The Unforseen: Confessions of a Marauder Queen
by Mauradingknight
Summary: Jack finds out that the legend of the Marauders hasn't changed....and that there is more ancient magic at work. HIATUS
1. Jack Potter

Confessions of A Marauder Queen:

General Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ is owned by J.K. Rowling, so the only things that I owe Jack, her children, and this story plot, which is inspired by _Living With Danger_ (but is not associated with that in any way, shape or form. My initial ideas sparked from the fanfiction.)

Prologue:

My name is Jack… Jack Potter actually. I was James Potter's twin sister, before my death. I have a past that is dark and mysterious, one that is full of danger, just the way I like it. But that is not the point, the point is that I must take you back many years, to a time when everything hung on the balance of one decision, when everything and everyone depended on me, though nobody ever knew it at the time. So, this is my story. You may be wondering, why am I not known in other places, at other times. The truth will be reviled, so sit back and listen to my tale.

Chapter One: The Darkest Time

It was a rather dark and stormy night, especially for the end of July. _Fitting though,_ thought a woman,_ the nine-month anniversary of everything going to hell is a dark and stormy night, and on Harry's birthday too. I wish I could hold him in his arms and tell him everything's gonna be okay. I wish Sirius were standing right beside me. Most of all I wish you were here James. I need your help with this one._ She glanced up at the waning moon as she took a swig of alcohol. She sighed with relief. She was going to visit Moony, but she needed to get nice and sloshed first. She didn't want to remember this night. It was good that it wasn't full. Then he could talk to her and she didn't have to try and transform. _The entire British community thinks that my true love betrayed my twin brother and my sister-in-law to the most feared wizard of modern times, and the press doesn't know when to leave someone to their grieving. God they're all idiots who won't listen to the truth. Maybe if I tell my story to the Quibbler… Mr. Lovegood's pretty open to things. _She thought to earlier that day when hordes of reporters all but attacked her as she left the Ministry after her meeting with Fudge. He didn't believe her. He thought she was lying or confounded. She took another swig from the bottle she carried as she walked up a twisting path to a small cottage a few miles outside of Devon. She pounded her fist on the door.

"Moooeee! Open up! You know I was comin'. Come on Moooee!" she hollered. She didn't care who heard her. She was depressed and drunk and she wanted to talk to Moony about something sad and horribly depressing. She just wanted to wallow in sadness tonight, on Harry's birthday. He should have been with her, happily continuing life, but instead he was being raised as a muggle with his Aunt and Uncle. She fumed at the thought of Petunia Evans, who she had met only once, she prayed that what she thought would happen to him was just her very vivid imagination. She prayed that she was wrong and Harry was happy where he was. Yes, the subject of Harry was a nice depressing topic. She longed to hold him in her arms for a very long time and just cry over the deaths of his parents. She was his godmother, goddamnit, and Dumbledore refused _her_ custody. It made her so angry.

Remus Lupin opened the door and did not seem surprised to see the woman. "Jack, I guess it would be better for everyone if you came in and got wasted in a place you won't hurt anyone." He took her arm and led her gently inside. _She's completely sloshed,_ He thought to himself

That's not why I came here Moony." Jack said, shaking her head and stumbled a little. "Something's been buggin' me lately." Moony led her to a frayed couch and sat her down. She took another swig of alcohol. "Doesn't make sense y'know? Padfoot was always so busy with wedding plan n' the Order n' his Auror responsibilities, and on top of all that he came to all my games. Why would he betray us? He spent a whole lota time with us after sixth year, the summer that… that… _they_ died. And why did they hafta die anyway, why did they go and leave me to take care of everything. It all went to hell and it's all my fault. N' James didn't even tell me 'bout them switchin', like I'm not capable of handling a secret. And … aw Moony he's gone." Jack began to sob and finished off the bottle of Firewhiskey before sending it crashing to the floor.

Moony wrapped his arms around her and hugged her as he spoke softly to her. "I know. I know it hurts." He said, "things will get better, I promise you that much. We're going to figure that out. I'll call Dumbledore tomorrow and we'll figure out where to go from there.

Jack stiffened and then giggled. "God I'm an idiot for coming here I should go." She stood up to leave.

"No!" shouted Remus as he pulled her down hard. _I have to keep her here. At least for the night, until Dumbledore can come over and talk her into seeking some help. I've never actually seen her this bad before._ "I mean, I rarely get any company these days and you might as well stay here." He smiled awkwardly, hoping that Jack was drunk enough to simply accept the reason and go on with her usual drunken moping.

She did. Jack shrugged and walked back towards him, rather wobbly, but at a steady pace. However, she hadn't gone five paces before she collapsed on the floor. Remus sighed and carried her over to the couch. _I can't believe this is happened to her, and so unnoticed by half the wizarding world. I bet reporters mobbed her some time today. They don't understand that today's such a delicate day for her. She would be depressed because she can't see Harry and also unhappy because she doesn't play Quiddich anymore. She's supposed to be married by now, be raising kids right next to James and Lily, but …_ he stopped thinking. He didn't want to think about that tonight. He conjured some blankets for her and went into his bedroom and went to bed. _Maybe things will get better tomorrow. Tomorrow always looks easier on the day of, we just have to take this one day at a time._

He went to his room and stretched on his bed, not really tired. He thought of better days, before the world had gone to hell.

-- Flashback

Remus was walking down the hallway towards the library. James and Sirius were off pranking Snape or something, Peter was visiting his sick mother, and Lily was working in the Hogwarts common room. Remus had always felt kind of sorry for Peter. James and Sirius were best friends, James was Lily's boyfriend and Sirius had Jack, though nobody knew it at that time. Jack and Remus had always hit it off since they were both bookworms, though a major difference is that Jack didn't get along with animals. She said that she just didn't like them, but James said that as a kid she had had a few bad experiences with animals and had never gone back to them since.

The other major difference between Jack and the Mauraders is that Jack actually got along with Snape. It might have been because Jack got along with everyone and was never judgmental, but she and a couple Slytherins were the only ones who got along with Severus. James said it was because she just wasn't a very judgmental person. Sirius said he was grateful for this fact because Jack gave them thousands of second chances over the years, when they had lost a lot of points for their house or if they forgot to include her on a prank, she always forgave them.

Of course, she was the one who thought up and created the Marauder's map. She had presented James with it at the beginning of their sixth year as a birthday present. None of the others were quite sure how she had exactly managed it, but all she had said was that it was fairly simple to make more.

Remus smiled at the sight of Jack as he entered the library. Her face was inches from the text, intensely reading whatever subject she was studying that day. Remus frowned. N.E.W.T.s were coming up. Jack looked tired. Bags were under her eyes and her short hair was tinged with gray from lack of care, her hazel eyes seemed near tears.

Remus sat down across from her and pulled out his transfiguration text and notes. They sat like that for hours. Students came and went from the library, most students cared to study in their dorms. After a few hours Lily came in dragging Sirius and James, insisting that they both study. James and Lily set to work, quietly working next to one another, talking in whispers. Sirius, always the two-year-old, pouted until Jack sighed, slide her things over next to Sirius, plopped in the seat next to him and whispered something in his ear. His eyes widened and then he grabbed his books from inside his bag and started to study.

Lily, James, and Remus stared at Sirius. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. He was _studying_ and quietly too.

"Are you serious?" choked out Lily.

Sirius smirked and opened his mouth.

"If you make that joke," Jack said, not looking up from studying, "the deal's off." Sirius looked like she had asked him to never prank again. "Don't give me that look." Jack said. "You can say it later, when we're alone, but right now I want to study."

"Alright," was all Sirius would say. After about another hour, Jack and Sirius stood up and asked the group if they wanted to grab a snack. They all did so they headed down to the kitchens.

After the elves served them tea and biscuit, the group sat down at a hard-scrubbed wood table. Sirius and Jack shared a look, then Sirius stuck out his lower lip, "you promised." He whined.

"Do you want to do the honors?" Sirius jumped around in his seat with excitement. "You're four." Snorted Jack.

"But isn't that why you love me?" grinned Sirius.

James choked on his biscuit. "What?" he managed to rasp out while Lily hammered him on his back. She smiled.

"I wondered why Sirius hadn't had a new girlfriend all year." Lily said quietly.

Remus made the connection and smiled. James was so shocked he couldn't seem to speak.

James gazed at Jack. "You…and him?" he asked weakly. Jack nodded. "This…is…amazing!" James finally got out.

Jack shook her head, smiling. "I knew that was how you'd react, but did Sirius believe me, no." Sirius kissed her ear and she swatted him playfully. Remus recognized the emotion that he hadn't been able to pinpoint since she had first come back to Hogwarts.

End Flashback --

Things did get better the next day. Jack woke up with a large hangover, but she actually managed to eat a decent amount of food without crying over how much she missed Sirius's cooking and was able to brush her hair and look decent when Dumbledore came by. As predicted, he came by in the early morning and spent several hours talking to Jack. He exited the living room where Jack had spent the night with a small smile on his face.

"She's better today than she was six months ago."

Remus was shocked at this, "Better? How is this better?"

Dumbledore's smile faded slightly. "She was bad off right after James's death, and the fact that her parents had been killed nearly two years before and she was denied custody of Harry or marrying Sirius. She spent three months at Hogwarts and barely moved. She has simply been grieving the loss of her entire world. Her parents, brother and sister, nephew and future husband had all disappeared within months of each other. She's gotten over her parents deaths, but this is harder."

"Why was that?"

Dumbledore actually had a tear fall down his cheek, something Remus had never seen happen before. "You knew about James and Jack's connection?"

Remus nodded. "They liked using it to prank different people."

"It wasn't the only thing they had in common. James and Jack could feel each other. They knew where each person was at all times, what they were doing, feeling and seeing. Imagine half of you are killed and the rest of it is forced to continue on. It kills most who have the connection."

Moony nodded and promised to tell Dumbledore if anything changed, but he hated doing it to her friend. She was an independent soul who needed to figure things out for her, even if it meant crashing head-on into a brick wall. _I'm sorry Jack, I wish I could let you figure this out on you own, but I'm scared this will kill you. I can't have the last of my friend die._

Remus spent the next few hours figuring out what he and Jack were going to do. Both of them had lost so much over the years. He didn't understand how they were going to survive these next few days. He knew that many would say to him periodically that time healed all things, but with each passing day, he saw more and more things that he wished James, Lily, and Sirius were there to see. He wished he could have his friends back, James always knew how to deal with Jack. They had a special link, and knew what was wrong.

Remus remembered at the beginning of their seventh year Jack was extremely depressed and wouldn't talk at all, to anybody. Several members of the staff and many of the students were concerned when Jack didn't fly the first Quiddich game of the season. Not because they wanted to win, but because Jack lived and breathed Quiddich, and something was very wrong. Sirius and James wouldn't talk about it, but spent many hours the first few months of school quietly talking with Jack. It finally came out that Jack had walked in on her parents' bodies when she got home from school. There hadn't been a Dark Mark, but it was clear who had done it. It was odd to Remus. James and Jack had changed so drastically after that summer. James was no longer the big-headed Quiddich star who pranked Severus Snape every chance he had, and Jack was no longer the talkative popular girl of the school who everybody cheered on as she captured the snitch. Even Sirius had changed. Remus figured as a reflection of those months it was probably mainly because of how much he cared about Jack.

Lily Evans was shocked at the change.

-- Flashback

Lily Evans ran into James and Jack on the train. "Nice summer, Potter?"

"It was alright, Lily." This shocked Lily primarily because both Jack and James's eyes were rimmed with red and the fact that Potter had actually referred to her by her first name. But the next thing was what shocked her most. "How was yours?"

_How was yours?_ Those three little words shocked Lily so much she couldn't answer the question. "Is there something wrong? Are you two okay?" Lily's voice and eyes reflected genuine concern.

"Nothing that we want to discuss, thank you for asking though." James said in a defeated voice. "I'm Head Boy, but I have help Jack get settled. Tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it." He said, indicating her Head Girl badge.

"Rounds tonight."

"See you there."

Jack burst into tears and James quietly led her to an empty compartment, while Sirius quietly told Remus and Peter that the three of them would see them at the feast.

--

A month later Lily started going out with James, hardly believing that it was actually happening. And within a month of them leaving school they had gotten married. Jack took a little longer to come around, but she and Sirius had gotten engaged three months before James and Lily were killed and Sirius carted off to Azkaban. They were supposed to have been married in mid-November.

-- End Flashback

In the next room, Jack was barely uttering what almost seemed like a prayer at first glance. She was gazing up towards the heavens, fingering the ring on the third finger of her left hand, and said to nobody in particular. "Please. I need James back." Unbeknownst to both parties, a flash of light pulsed outside the cottage, depositing a man on the doorstep.

--

The man looked around him after he had gotten up. He knew who he was, what was going on, where he was, when it was, and how this had happened. The founders had told him everything before he left. He smiled to himself, before she had died his mother had been famous for telling him and Jack, _"When something is beginning to happen, always remember your who, what, where, when, why, and how."_

James nodded and knocked on the door. He hoped Mooney was home. He recognized this as Mooney's house, or at least the house he lived in before he and Lily had died.

--

Remus came to the door thinking _I've been so popular these past few days._ He opened the door. Then he promptly turned chalk white and dropped the mug of tea he had been holding.

James raised his eyebrows at Moony and smiled, "Still jumpy, eh Remus?" he engulfed Remus in a hug and said, "I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I'm sorry I lied to you."

"What? How is this possible?" whispered Remus.

"I'm alive," James shrugged.

"But – but you died." Remus said shakily, raising his wand.

Remus couldn't seem to find to words, but Jack chose that exact moment to come to see who was at the door. "JAAAAAAMMEEESSS!" she squealed, "God damn! The bloody spell worked, didn't it, the bloody spell worked!" Remus was even more shocked by Jack's reaction. She went from depressed back to her normal self in less then sixty seconds. Jack's eyes were suddenly filled with life and happiness, not the sadness and dread they had expressed the night before.

James smiled, "Language woman! I'm glad to you haven't changed too much since I've been gone."

They stared at each other for a few seconds. **Can you hear this?** Asked Jack.

**No I can't hear this. I can't hear my twin sister using the connection that we've had since birth. Of course I can hear this you idiot!**

**Sorry, I was just making sure, you were… dead you know.**

**I know, I was dead, but apparently the spell was enough reason for the founders to send me back. I mean, they saw how close we are and how you'd probably die without me, and then they said something vague about you needing to do something and some role in the prophesy that you have to fulfill. Just to be on the safe side we should ask the security questions. What's your animagus form?**

Jack pulled a face, **what animagus form?** James punched her in the shoulder. **Alright, alright, I'm a Canadian goose. What was Harry's first word?**

**Duck. He pointed to you and cried 'duck.'** James smiled and Jack hugged him again.

"He checks out." She told Remus. "It's really him."

Remus didn't look convinced. "Show me Prongs." The elegant stag that Remus had spent so many full moons with appeared before him. His werewolf sense was already picking up his sent. It seemed different though -- harder in a sense. His voice shook when he spoke next. "But you died. You and Lily died protecting Harry. I buried you with Jack right by my side."

Jack and James shared a look. They seemed to be fighting over who would tell Remus a big secret. James won and Jack sighed. "What Dumbledore was saying an hour ago isn't entirely correct." She said.

"It's more as if it were…. incomplete" James finished.

Jack cut in again, speaking in her usual rapid speech. "It's actually rather complicated. There's a certain spell in our old family books that we suspected might work and now we know it does. It's a one time use thing, but if a twin knows the other is facing mortal peril, he or she can cast the spell on the twin in question and be able to call them back to the land of the living."

Remus was confused. "Say that again, slower."

Jack took a deep breath. "There's this old spell in one of my books that can connect a soul to another, but they must be blood bound naturally first. All twins are blood bound naturally at birth, so basically all it means is that if you attach one soul to another, they must be twins. Usually it only works for identical twins, but somehow it worked and now James is bound to me."

James looked rather uncomfortable, and then he spoke. "I'm sorry Remus, but I lied to the you. We switched secret keepers."

"So Peter is…oh my god. But there's no way to prove it." Exclaimed Remus. "And Sirius… good God, James, do you know what this does?"

Jack looked like she could kill. "I told you." she thundered, "I told you, and Dumbledore, and Fudge. They switched keepers and it was Peter, not Sirius who betrayed them. But would anybody listen to me? No, they were too wrapped up in their own grief to see the logic in what I had to say. Why would Sirius, who's practically like a brother to my twin and my future husband be a Death Eater?"

"It was the only logical option then." Cried Remus.

"You know what I did at Hogwarts for three months, Remus? I was trying to convince Dumbledore of the truth and that I should get custody of Harry because I was his godmother, but did he listen to a word I said? No, of course not, because Harry James Potter is safe with his magic-hating muggle aunt who thinks our kind are… is sub_normal_."

"He sent him WHERE? Asked James angrily.

"The Dursleys, he sent him to Lily's sister." Jack said tersely.

"Duck, please tell me you're joking."

Had it been a less serious moment, Jack would have hit him upside the head for using Harry's special name for her. _How can it be a serious moment,_ a part of her thought, _he isn't here._ She groaned at her inner joke and James and Remus looked over at her.

"I made a Sirius joke." She giggled.

--

"What are we gonna do?" asked James. The group had moved back into the living room. James was sprawled on the couch.

"Rescue Sirius." Called Jack. "I want him back if nobody will listen to me. And we might as well take Harry back since his Dad is back."

James and Remus groaned and they all laughed fore several minutes. "So… tonight is the night that I defy a wizard's logic, tomorrow's the day that we rock the world. Are we ready for it?"

James smiled, "I think it's more appropriate to say… is the world ready for us?"

Since it was only early afternoon, Jack and Remus had plenty of time to go into Diagon Ally and get a hefty amount of wizard gold changed into British pounds (Gringotts goblins gave them a beautiful exchange rate). The majority of the Potter fortune, minus the money left in Harry's vault and the vault where James and Jack kept all the cool heirlooms and antiques, would be transferred to the American Qunat Wizarding Bank. This way they had a substantial source of money, even if none of them could find a job.

While taking the trip, Remus and Jack chatted about old times, when there wasn't a war going on and they didn't have to be grown ups and fight in it. They had been happy, simply pranking everyone and enjoying a good game of Quiddich once a month with weekly practices. Their sixth year, they probably had the best line up of anyone: James was a chaser and the Captain, Gideon and Fabian Prewett were the other two chasers. Sirius and a kid named William Thomas were the two beaters, the Keeper was Marlene McKinnon, and Jack was the team's Seeker.

They returned to Jack's house an hour and a half later rather winded from the crowds that they had to fight off. It seemed that every time Jack made a public appearance, reporters seemed to show up.

"I told you," she shouted over the dull roar of the reporters. "I'm not giving any interviews. I don't like reporters and I HEX THOSE WHO GET IN MY WAY." The reporters shut up and moved aside to make a path for Remus and Jack. Remus chuckled under his breath. It seemed that things were already returning to normal in his life.

After returning home. Jack, James, and Remus proceeded to clean up the house and pack the bag that they were taking to America. The papers had been falsified of course, made to look like they all had dual citizenships and were returning home after growing up in England.

Jack grinned and shook her head. "James, I wrote a letter to Kingsley Shacklebolt, it's on the upstairs mantle. Why don't you and Remus write a letter to Dumbledore to hint at everything that's happened, minus James coming back, subtly? Then pack you things at Moonie's and I'll meet you at the Wales mansion."

"Agreed." Said James, "I'll see you around 10?"

"I'd expect me sooner than that. I can fly pretty fast." She transformed silently and beautifully in the blink of an eye and suddenly was a Canadian goose. She flew out an open window and smiled to herself as she felt down drafts and up drafts control her level. This was a feeling that she would never forget again. She had hope that this was going to work out. Everything was going to be okay. No matter what happened now, she knew that she was doing something that she was willing to die for. Her love for James, Harry, Sirius, and even Remus seemed to burst out of her. As she flew towards Azkaban, away from London, she remembered the dead. Marlene and Lily, her schoolmates; Gideon and   
Fabian Prewett, she and James had connected with those two immediately. The Longbottoms were insane, and her life had completely changed within 18 months.

She thought of her parents. She doubted there was much of an afterlife, but she almost hoped that there was one and her mum and dad were watching her right now and saw how hard she was willing to fight for the people she loved. She thought about other things. It occurred to her that she'd probably never play for England again, but Quiddich was something she was willing to give up. She was only 22, but she wanted to do other things with her life. She love History of Magic and had plans to teach at Hogwarts, but she knew now that that was impossible to pull off. It was too risky to connect her to Sirius, and a few drops of Veritaserum in the right place would be all she needed to tell everyone everything. She thought about Sirius and how much she loved him. He was the most amazing person she had ever known. Coming from a pureblood family he was selfless and loving. He was a risk taker but at the same time he was able to hold back in a dangerous situation. He always fought. Always. But Sirius couldn't fight right now, so now she would fight for him.

Her thoughts moved on to all those who had died or come close to it in the war. Alice, Lily, Marlene, and Emily were all roommates of hers when she had gone to Hogwarts and now she was the only one truly alive. Sure Alice was still breathing, but the Healers said that she'd never be herself again. She passed trees, rivers, lakes, and the occasional house. She finally saw the familiar speck in the distance as she recognized Azkaban prison. She beat her wings twice as fast as she noticed a setting sun. _It must be about eight. I can get Sirius out of here by 8:45 at the latest, then take him somewhere private to help him clear his head, then head back to James and Remus._ She passed the shore of the prison. She landed just inside the prison door passed the Dementors. She shivered as she passed them and then walked (waddled) down to the high security cells. She looked in and saw Sirius huddled in a corner.

Mate. She said in that universal animal language. Mate, wake up.

Sirius looked up in a mixture of surprise and disbelief. Come mate, come with me.

Sirius changed to his dog form. My mate is not real. I betrayed my mate and her brother.

Your mate loves you and understands you are innocent.

Sirius took a step back in shock. Then Jack indicated she wanted him to follow her and with a little coaxing, he did. He whined slightly as he passes the Dementors, but as soon as they were clear, he continued to follow Jack.

Let's go for a swim. She said.

Sirius looked at her like she was crazy, but then got in the water with her. They swan together for a long while. The sun had completely set when Jack looked back and saw that Azkaban was a speck on the horizon.

She drew closer to him and laid a wing around him. With a pop they were in a field under a tree. Sirius shook all the water out of his fur. Both of them transformed back into their human forms simultaneously.

"I'm hallucinating. It took six months and I've finally cracked." Muttered Sirius. Jack rushed over to him and kissed Sirius deeply and passionately. They stayed that way for a long time.

When they finally broke apart, Sirius shook his head. "Now I _know_ this is a dream, that's one of the first things I missed about you." Jack smacked him across the cheek. It immediately turned red and Sirius put a hand up to his cheek. "Ow! What the hell was that bloody for? It hurt! Wait a minute… that hurt and dreams never hurt, especially when you're soulless." He stopped and looked at Jack for a moment. Her black hair had the sun streaks it had from her being outside playing Quiddich all day; her skin was tan and rough as it always, but her eyes were rimmed with red and deep circle under her eyes, her eyes, there was pain in her hazel eyes, pain beyond any pain imaginable. They lacked the shine that they had when she laughed or smiled. Back in the early days of Hogwarts she was always smiling. She and James always made each other laugh. A tear fell down her cheek and Sirius wiped it away from her cheek. They kissed again passionately, at a loss for words. Then again, when two people who truly love each other are reunited, there isn't much to say anyway.

"I thought I lost you." she whispered when they broke apart, "I thought you'd never be by my side again and everything was gone. We have hope now." She smiled in a simple sad way. "Everyone thought that I was lying when I said you were innocent, I was pegged as insane. But now we have the true Mauraders back together, ready to fight the world.

"What do you mean? How can there be hope after James is dead and Harry is where nobody can find him."

"I know where Harry is because Dumbledore told me yesterday with the promise that I wouldn't take him, so that's solved, and James isn't dead."

Sirius's mouth dropped about six stories. "How can you say that James isn't dead? I saw his body."

"Do you remember the spell I did two weeks before they died?"

Sirius nodded, "vaguely, didn't you and James say it was impossible that it would work you weren't really identical twins, which is what the spell was designed for."

"In a one in a million chance, it worked." she said with a smile. God Sirius had missed her smile. It seemed to light up his entire world.

"You mean… James is alive?" Sirius breathed.

Jack nodded. "But, remember that there's a downside to the spell… if James is killed, I'll die." She stayed silent for a moment, letting the weight of what she had to say take affect.

"Crap." Was all Sirius could say. "We'll just have to make sure James doesn't die then won't we.

"I love you Sirius Orion Black." She said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you Jack Ophelia Potter." He said. "Soon to be Black." He added with a smile.

"The first thing we do when we get to America."

"Are we leaving soon?" asked Sirius.

Jack nodded. "James got the tickets today. Amazing thing that magic, we've falsified all of our muggle papers that are in order to go and work in America. We are to be the Whites, Jo and Thomas White." Sirius snorted. "James is Jake Evans, and Remus is John Smith. Sirius started laughing. "Glad to see that the Azkaban guards didn't have that much of an effect on you. Let's go home. We'll be leaving tomorrow and we should probably spend the tonight catching you and James up to date.

**Are you there?** Came a familiar voice in her head. She had missed it so much. **Jack, did you get Sirius out okay?**

**We're headed your way James. Better change into stag form, it'll be easier to convince him.**

**Is he okay?**

I think he's a little weak, but he's going to be fine. I don't think he believed me when I told him you were alive. Who would? Point noted and taken. Tell Mooney to start one of those instant dinners I have in the pantry. Instant dinners? 

Jack smiled. **Yeah, it's a new invention. You point your wand at it and tell it how many are coming to dinner and it'll make you anything. Spaghetti, Meatloaf, Chicken. It makes it pretty decent too, at least whatever it is doesn't burn like it does when I make it.**

**Why do you have these things?**

**Because Mom's good cooking genes were both lost when she got pregnant with us. Neither of us can do much more than place warming charms on things, oh, and like all men you can make pancakes.**

Sirius looked at her oddly. "Are we going to go or something?"

She broke off her connection. "Sorry, out of practice with multi-tasking. I was talking to James."

She grabbed his arm before he could respond and apparated both of them out of the glade.

They appeared back in the red and gold drawing room. The next moment pandemonium broke out.

Sirius took one glance at James and lost his balance. "JAMES?"

"What, did you think I was lying?" asked Jack.

Sirius got up. "No, I just… I thought you were humoring me. James is that really you?" James transformed back into his human form. "You can't mimic animagi forms." He whispered.

Remus called to them from the kitchen and the three grown men embraced in an awkward three-way hug. They all heard the click of a camera.

Sirius groaned. "Must you?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "All the pictures I have of us have Peter in them. I've thrown out the ones where he won't go away, though the one where Sirius started beating him up with his Beater bat was tremendously funny. I've kept it by my bed for ages."

The three of them sat down to dinner, which was steak. James tried to make Sirius laugh by eating as Prongs, but all it earned him were rolls being thrown at him. Sirius transformed into dog form and began to catch the rolls mid-flight. The group dissolved in laughter and tears for the first time in over a year.

Jack woke up and smiled to herself the next morning. Last night she did the impossible; today all of them were going to destroy every hope of the known wizarding world, at least in Britain. Today they were going to take Harry from his Aunt and Uncle's and disappear off of the face of the wizarding world. Nobody would know where they went and they wouldn't return until Harry was old enough to begin Hogwarts. Jack got up and changed into new clothes. Then waved her wand. The entire contents of the bathroom, closet and shelving units that were in her bedroom all flew into a suitcase at the foot of her bed. All of Sirius's things went in as well, since most of his stuff was given to Jack when he was arrested. The sheets off the bed were packed to, as were the pillows, which left Sirius alone on a bare underwear. She smiled. _This is perfect._ She charmed some pants and a shirt on, woke him up and told him that it was morning and unless he wanted another instant meal like they had last night, he'd better go down and get cooking. He immediately leapt up and went downstairs. Fifteen minutes later the packing had been finished and the single dufflebag they were taking was on the counter. Sirius was scrambling eggs and frying bacon when Remus and James and Jack walked in. Sirius turned around with the eggs and bacon on two large platters. All of them bit their lips when they caught sight of his tee shirt.

Sirius looked down and read the words "my woman wears the pants of our relationship" and shot Jack a look. "You know, usually when you're trying to comfort a person after they've finished a tough chapter of their life, you don't prank them."

Jack frowned, "oh really, what about the first day of classes our seventh year."

Sirius blushed, "I don't know what you're talking about." He said as casually as possible,"

Jack raised a single eyebrow. "Oh really? You see, as I remember, you and a certain twin of mine decided that I needed to be cheered up and so you decided you charm my hair blue while I was in the shower."

"What?" said Sirius. "It's as good a time as any, and besides, you look hot when you're washing your hair."

James clapped his hands and shouted, "to much information, Sirius. That's my sister, in case you've forgotten."

Remus smiled. "I always wondered about this. All I remember is a blue-haired Jack rushing into a fairly full Great Hall straight in the middle of breakfast and yelling at the top of her voice, "JAMES LAERTES POTTER, YOU COME HERE AND SET MY HAIR RIGHT."

All of them dissolved into laughter and tears.

Sirius got up, vanished the dirty dishes, and added the final touches to the kitchen to make it look long deserted. The next step was highly dangerous, especially at seven in the morning right after Sirius Black has supposedly escaped from Azkaban prison. It would take a half day to raise security and such, so what they had to do, they had to do it quickly.

They apparated a block away from the place that Dumbledore had told her was holding Harry. **Technically, I'm not breaking my promise to Dumbledore. I'm not taking him, you are, and rightfully so.**

**Still, I hate having to go behind Albus's back.**

**That would be an interesting conversation. "Hi Headmaster, just to let you know, Sirius Black is innocent, Peter Pettigrew was my brother's secret keeper and the way I can prove this is the fact that he's alive due to this half-dark spell that we were fooling around with one day because we were bored. So it brought him back from the dead and everything's fine and dandy right now.**

**Point taken…**

They arrived at Number Four at the exact time that a fat man with no neck was driving away in a company car. Jack and James went up to the door and knocked, since they were the only two who had actually met Petunia Dursley.

The door opened to a blonde bony woman holding a blonde boy screaming for candy. "What ever you're selling, I won't buy it." She started to close the door but James put his foot in the door. Petunia peered at them and realized who she was looking at. "But you died. You and my sister died, the old man wrote a letter saying so when he left that brat of yours on our doorstep."

"Where is he?" growled Jack.

Petunia looked at her in fear. "Cupboard under the stairs." She said rather quickly.

"Why is he there?" asked James authoritatively as Jack strode over to the cupboard.

"Because he has to learn his place, his unnatural, freakish place that isn't around the normal families like ours."

There was a crunching noise and both James and Petunia looked over. Jack had put her fist through the wall. She picked up a small bundle. "You call _this_ putting him in his _place._" Petunia flinched. Jack handed Harry (for it was Harry) over to James, and to his horror he could see bruises all over his fragile body. Jack pulled her wand. "You know in the wizarding world, in our word," Petunia flinched again, "it is the general consensus of the population that the darkest and most foul places in hell are reserved for Death Eaters who have ravaged our friends and family for many years. But that is too good for the likes of you who thinks that anything different is unnatural and for that reason, you would hit a two year old. Did you even remember that his birthday was yesterday, or that his mother, your flesh and blood, died to save him?"

James looked heartbrokenly at his unconscious son and looked up and his sister-in-law with tears in his eyes. "Lily would have never done this," was all he managed to say. Then James, Jack, and Harry left, soon to be joined by Remus and Sirius, who were shocked by the bruises on Harry. Jack concealed them, knowing that if she didn't they would draw unwanted attention to their group when they got to the airport. After that, the five of them apparated to the parking structure of the airport to check in and board the plane headed for America. Security was fairly lax that time of day and as it was mid-week, nobody seemed to be going anywhere or doing anything of much importance. They boarded the plane without trouble (both Sirius and Jack were concealed to ward off suspicion).

Midway through the plane trip, Harry woke up to find himself surrounded by people he thought had gone far away and had never come back. "Duck!" He cried, when he woke up in the arms of Jack. Several people around her murmured an affectionate sigh. When James returned from the bathroom he immediately brightened up and squirmed towards his father. "Dada." He murmured.

Jack smiled, handing him over. "He's you in looks, but he's totally me in character."

James laughed, "Jo, we're twins, how can you say that he's me in looks, that just means he looks like both of us."

Sirius leaned over from his seat next to Jack. "I think what Jo means is that you were always the heartbreaker of the school, you hardly had to do anything and you had girls fawning all over you, while Jack did absolutely nothing because she didn't care about her looks and nobody asked her out."

Jack snorted. "So Gideon asking me out every other week our sixth year doesn't count?"

Sirius smiled, "course not love, you were taken then, which makes boys pay attention to you. I believe I did quite a bit of influencing your reputation."

Jack had to laugh. "Don't you know that about thirty girls were willing to _pay_ me to figure out how to get a playboy like you to settle down with one girl for an entire month?"

While the four friends were laughing, chaos was breaking out in Britain. Amelia Bones, Secondary Chief of Magical Law Enforcement, was sitting at her desk, hardly believing, what Kingsley Shacklebolt was telling her. Sirius Black, _Sirius Black_, had done the unthinkable and broken out of Azkaban prison. What was more amazing was that it seemed that he had done it on his own, without any outside help. The Daily Prophet had already caught word and was now rushing Special Edition papers to the printers informing the entire wizarding world that the most feared Death Eater in the country was on the loose.

Mother's hurried their children inside, straining their eyes to make sure that Sirius Black was not behind the next bush or tree. They prayed that their children would be kept safe from such a monster. The press was having a field day. Sirius Black had done what so many seemed to think was impossible: he escaped from Azkaban Prison and disappeared. Some thought he had family in France, others said that he knew Igor Karoff and was off to teach in Bulgaria, a couple said that he had run off with his girlfriend, though nobody seemed to remember her name.

Over 100 miles away, Amelia Santino, the Keeper for the English Quiddich team looked toward his captain and one of the team's beaters, Mary Wilkes. "Have you seen Potter yet? She said that she'd be here early."

Wilkes frowned. "No I haven't. Let me check if she sent an owl." She disappeared into a small office and came out a moment later. "Yeah, she did." She said, handing her the letter.

Amelia opened the letter in a hurry, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

_Dear Amelia,_

_Over the few months that I have gotten to know you, I can say truthfully that you are one of the most caring people that are left in this world. Therefore, I am sending you this letter; letting you know that I am going to probably kill myself by the time you get this. My lover is a murderer, my brother is dead, and my world is in shambles. Quiddich has lost its luster and right now I just want to die. I have no chance of being happy anymore, so in parting, I want to give you the snitch charm that my mother gave me before my first Quiddich game. I know you have a four year old who already loves the game. Please give it to him and when he's old enough, tell him my story. I loved the world that I lived in and that world slipped away and I simply let it. Teach your son to never let anyone take away what you find necessary in your life, teach him to be a gentleman, like my friend Remus Lupin was. I will be far from your gasp by the time this reaches you, so remember me well._

_Yours,_

Jacqueline Ophelia Potter P.S. I promised you that one day I'd tell you my true full name. Are you happy now? 

Amelia closed the letter as a tear rolled down her cheek. She reached into the envelope and retrieved the silver snitch pendent set with green emeralds. Jack had always worn this pendent, to remember her long-dead parents. She thought of her son Victor, and her husband Max. Her world was so filled with love and energy from the two of them. She could already tell that he was going to be a fine seeker when he grew up. 

"Is everything alright?" asked Mary.

Amelia shook her head, her voice quavering. "Jack's dead." Mary was lost for words.

Albus Dumbledore could not have been more shocked.

He had just returned from Number 4 Private Drive to find the wards gone and Harry missing. He had talked to Petunia who had said, "that unnatural brat was taken away by his unnatural father and aunt. Good thing too. Dudders had his birthday a few days ago and we needed the broom closet for all of his other things.

It was early evening by the time the Whites and the Evans exited the airport in Los Angeles. The baggage claim belt fascinated Sirius, who now went by Thomas, and Sirius and James played on it until the Airport security stopped them. Jack thanked the officer and gave Sirius a slap upside his head. They grabbed their bags, and rented a small car. Harry sat in James's lap and as soon as Muggles were out of sight they conjured a car seat for him. Remus drove, since his mother was a muggle and had taught him how to drive.

It was very scary for Remus, however, being used to English roads, having to be driving on the opposite side of the street. Jack sat in the navigator's seat and directed him to her pen pal's house. He had cut himself off from the magical world a few years ago, married a muggle, and had two kids, both were nonmagical.

They pulled up in front of the Craftsman house. "Wait here," said Jack, "He knows me and isn't very open to other wizards and witches." The four nodded, Harry had done it in his sleep, nodding off. She exited the car, checked the time on the car clock, 7:21, and walked up the stone steps. She knocked politely on the door.

It opened. A young boy with jet-black hair answered it. "Ca' I 'elp 'ou?" the five year old asked.

"Donnie," called a man's voice, "don't answer the door without our permission." The man opened the door wider. His mouth opened in shocked.

"Hey Alan. I need to talk to you about something."

Alan pushed Don back inside, "Sweetie," he called, "take care of the kids for me, an old friend's at the door."

"Okay!" came a female voice. Alan closed the door behind him. "How did you get here?" he asked after a long pause.

She gestured towards the car, "Remus can drive…sort of."

Alan looked over Jack's shoulder. "Hi…" he said awkwardly.

Jack turned around. Jams, Remus, Sirius, and Harry were standing there. "Aw come on! You." she said to Sirius, "need to be glamour any time that you go out." Sirius looked guilty at her. Alan looked confused.

"Isn't that…" he started to say.

"Sirius Black, framed man." She kissed him quickly. "James Potter, dead man." She indicated her twin. "And Remus Lupin, good man, last but not least."

Alan's eyebrows rose further. "Do you want to explain all this?"

"Yeah… it's a long story, do you have a place to sit down?"

"Inside…inside."

"Wow…" breathed Alan after the story had been told. "That's, um, that sounds a lot like the thousands of stories that I've heard of your adventures over the years. You can add cheating death and breaking a man out of the most famous wizard's prison in the world on your resume."

"We need your help, actually." Jack said testily.

"You need a place to stay." Allen concluded, nodding. "I know a couple places that you can stay, like the Ravenclaw house."

Jack gasped, "I didn't know you had an ancestral home here."

Alan nodded, "It's a couple blocks away. Margaret thought it was too big, but I'm sure you guys are planning on having kids, and I'm sure it'll be just right for you guys."

"Sounds good. So what have you been doing?" asked Jack.

"I married Margaret and had Don and Charlie, and we moved here and that's that."

"I'm confused though," said James, "why is the house called the Ravenclaw house?"

Alan and Jack shared a look. "Alan went to school in Salem," she said. "He had a parent who went to Hogwarts." She shrugged.

"So… why are you living like Muggles?" asked Sirius.

"Because," Jack started to say, before Alan cut in.

"It's okay Jack," he patted her arm and directed his conversation to James, Sirius, and Remus. Harry had fallen asleep in James's arms thirty minutes ago. "My life has been… affected by the war in England. I was the only one of my family who survived it. I was angry and I left that world behind."

"And Ravenclaw House comes from…?" Sirius asked.

"The Eppes line is the last line of Ravenclaw." Sirius, Remus, and James drew in breath.

Alan gave them directions to the ancestral home and went back inside.

Jack sighed. James looked at baby Harry and bounced him on his knee. "So, what's going to happen now?" he asked.

"Now we live our lives," said Jack, "and wait for Harry to get older. We raise him as anybody would raise their children."


	2. The Return

Ten years later –

"Harry James Potter get out of bed this instant!" came a voice. Harry smiled and rose, he was moving today, to another country, his father and Uncles and Aunt were all from England ad talked endlessly about it. He couldn't wait to go off to Hogwarts and become a Gryffindor like his mother, father, aunt, and two uncles. "Tali, Alex, you're on breakfast duty." called his Aunt. "Jacob, get the table set; Merigold and Melony, get up!" Harry smiled thinking about his large family. Tali was the oldest cousin, she was a little less than two year younger than him, born in May; Alex was his closest friend, and was three years younger than him; Jacob was six and was a fireball of energy; and Merigold and Melony were the twins, they were both four and loved to read more than anything. "Harry get up, you have to finish packing!" Harry rose and got dressed. He could hardly imagine his life any different then it was now. He shoved the rest of his stuff in one of the two trunks his father had bought for him.

Harry went down and greeted his family. "Morning, Aunt Jay!" he called. She was in the kitchen, overseeing the hustle and bustle. "Cuidado, Jacob, don't carry too many dishes at once. Harry, wash up and help you cousin before he hurts himself, Tali, so help me – do not get burned by that griddle. I will tan you hide into next week. Alex please watch your sister before she hurts herself, I took the safety charm off the stove and oven last night." A crash sounded as young Jacob slipped and sent plates, glasses, and silverware flying. Harry quickly caught him, and pulled him out from under the onslaught of dishes that fell to the earth. "Jacob! What did I tell you about carrying too many dishes? Pick those up and bring them to your Uncle so he can fix them."

A deep-throated laugh came from behind her. "Good morning all, who wants coffee?" He barked. "I made it extra strong, just like you like it. He ran his hand through her short, croppy hair. She laughed and turned around, kissing him deeply. All the kids, though they were used to this, collectively voiced their opinions of PDA in the Potter house.

"Ewwww!" they all shrieked, and James joined in as he entered the kitchen. Jack hit him soundly on the ear.

"Watch what you say. You'd do well to remember that I'm the one who holds dessert hostage. What would our mother say if she heard you.

"If I remember correctly," James retorted. "You would say the same thing whenever Mom and Dad kissed." Jack blushed

"Are we all ready?" asked Remus, tiredly coming into the room. The full moon had been only two nights ago. James yawned, having stayed up with him, roaming around a favorite forest in Canada.

"Yep," said Sirius, "first stop Hogwarts." The clan finished breakfast preparations and sat down to a meal of eggs, bacon and English muffins. Orange juice was given to the kids, while the adults had coffee or tea.

"Do you really think we should bring the whole clan into Dumbledore's office." Asked Remus, while sipping his steaming cup of tea.

Jack shrugged. "Might as well. Minerva McGonagall, visiting the Weasley house on some business, caught Peter two years ago, Sirius has been proven innocent and they have nothing to pin on any of us, James had every right to take Harry from his Aunt and Uncle's house, and they'll never be able to tell that it was me who broke Sirius out of Azkaban. There's no proof, since geese fly over that island all the time, it's covered in birds of every size and species."

None of this information seemed new to any of the children. It was considered normal conversation in the Potter-Black household. They all knew the story of Harry's mother's death and Sirius's break-out. Harry had been told the prophesy, the first part anyway, and all of the children knew that they were all going to have to fight evil when they got older.

"Can you imagine the look on Dumbledore's face when he finds out where we've been all these years." Chortled James.

**Can you imagine the look on Minnie's face when she sees you returned from the dead?** "And the wizarding world has given up on any chance that the Boy-Who-Lived is alive. Between the four of us, the press will go nuts!" Retorted Jack, now fully capable of multitasking her thoughts and speech. **Though five new Black children will be a shock to some, make no mistake. Most people have accepted my death. The only people who think I'm still alive are those wackos who actually know it.**

All her children rolled their eyes. They all had been informed about Harry surviving the killing curse and how their father had been framed. They didn't treat Harry any differently and knew that some people might. **Watch who you're calling a wacko,** came James's retort.

"All right." Said Jack, "is everyone ready?" She cleaned the empty plates in front of her family and shrunk them before packing them in the last bag. She held up a small bag of floo powder. "Meri, you go with your father, Mel, your with me, Jacob go with Uncle Jay." The three opened their mouths in protest but Jack didn't miss a beat. "No protesting, you all know the rules, Seven is the age limit. Does anyone have to go to the bathroom?" Nobody answered. "Alright, let's move out." She grabbed Melody, a frayed backpack and an old suitcase, threw a pinch of powder into the fire, and shouted "Hogwarts!" When the swirling green flames stopped, She stepped out into a deserted Great Hall. Harry came next, falling nearly on his face before Jack set Mel down and grabbed him. He never could seem to keep his balance when traveling by floo, which was a surprise since he was a natural flyer. Then Tali and Alex came together, both managed to stay balanced with the added weight of backpacks on their backs. Sirius then arrived with Meredith, Remus with Jacob, and James. The ten of them then brushed the soot off themselves. They were unmet up the stair until they stood in front of the Gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office.

Jack rolled up her sleeves. "In the name of founders four, I bid you, open up your door, some news we bring to head of school, where children learn and lions rule."

The Gargoyle automatically stepped aside, reveling the rising stair. Sirius smirked and all the kids snickered. "It's nice to see some things around this place will never change."

"Like what?" asked Mel.

Sirius picked up his daughter, "Like the fact that your mum can get this school to do whatever she wants it to." Jack hit him, but was smiling as well.

"Alright, enough fooling around, it's time to disillusion everybody but Remus, Harry, and I. Let's not have Albus die of shock. "I want him to get used to people returning from the so-called dead very slowly. And kids remember…"

"We know, we know," said Alex in an exasperated voice "look but do not touch. We got it the first time, mum." She smiled and nodded, then made quick work of Sirius, James, and her children. Then the group entered Albus's office. He was at his desk, filling out paperwork when they entered.

Jack smiled. "Glad to see you haven't changed a bit, Albus."

He looked up and gasped at what he saw. "Jack Potter." He said in awe, rising. "But it isn't possible, you died, nearly ten years ago."

Jack smiled. "I made it look like I had died. I didn't want anyone come after me. Remus and I took off together, decided to raise young Harry away from the press and the havoc of the wizarding world. Plus it was fun to reek havoc."

Albus's eye twinkled. "It was clever of you. I didn't even think to check. So this is the young Mr. Potter, whom everyone thinks died long ago. How has your Aunt and Uncle treated you, Mr. Potter."

Jack snorted, but both Albus and Harry ignored her. "Very well, sir." Harry said in his most serious tone.

"Albus, you've known this child since before he was born. For the love of Merlin, fulfill Lily's dying wish and call him Harry, you've were like the Grandfather he never had to him before the attack."

"What have you been up to Jacqueline?" Albus asked her, his eye twinkling with a smile plastered across his face.

Jack sported her secret smile. "Oh, the usual. Springing innocent men from prison, getting married, having a few kids of my own and raising them, that sort of thing." Albus's eyebrows raised further into his receding hairline as Jack felt Sirius's strong arms reach around her waist. She looked up into Sirius's silver eyes and smiled broadly. Her children ran to Harry and they began to whisper and giggle staring around at their new environment.

Tali's round silver-grey eyes studied Dumbledore cautiously, while Alex's thin hazel ones took in everything around him, from the poofy purple chairs to the whistling silver gadgets that covered tables and desks. Harry's bright green eyes wandered over to the Quiddich Pitch that Dumbledore's office overlooked, and he knelt down and whispered something to Jacob, who's gray-blue eyes widened in awe and wonder. The twins were to absorbed in the vast amount of books in the room to take in much else.

Jack cleared her throat and the whispering and giggles stopped. "Albus, we'd like to formally introduce you to our children. This is Tallana, Alexander, Jacob, Melody, and Merigold. All Blacks."

Albus broke into a genuine grin. "It's nice to meet you all. Sirius, you will be pleased to hear that your mother passed on several years ago and with no will. You inherit everything. A lot of people have been looking for you Sirius, where have you been?"

Jack, Remus, and Sirius smiled. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, Albus." Jack finally said. "But you would do well to remember, Albus, that I have just as many contacts as you do."

Sirius smiled and pecked Jack on the neck. "What a headline it will be tomorrow in the prophet: "Falsely accused ex-Auror marries long dead Quiddich superstar."

"And there are some things that I pray to Merlin will never be in the prophet." Murmured Jack.

Albus's hearing had never been sharper. "Pray tell, what would that be Mrs. Black."

Jack snorted, "Never, ever compare me to that retched woman." She then smiled. "As for our secret, well, Albus, you remember how bored James and I got, and how we would goof off when we were?"

"Naturally. I don't believe my bathroom has ever been the same since your graduation from Hogwarts. I like it, though, reminds me of happier times."

"Well, sometimes we did things that were borderline illegal, or borderline dangerous, or both."

"I see." Dumbledore said, ever the level-headed man.

"Well, one day we were fooling around with the books and we came across a spell that we thought was…interesting." Jack said in her "politics" voice. "It was a spell that linked twins, even in death. You do remember, Albus, that Potters are known for giving birth to twins?"

"Yes, I was very surprised that Harry wasn't a twin."

"Yes, well, James and… and Sirius and I thought we'd try it, you know, as a precaution. We knew that Voldy was going to come after James and Lily and we didn't want Harry to grow up parentless." There was a long silence. "We never thought it would work. It's meant for identical twins, you see. It wasn't designed for our… purposes." Jack was talking faster, a sign that she was nervous.

"What are you saying, Jack?" asked Dumbledore harshly.

"…" Jack didn't know what to say. "I – James – he –"

"James isn't dead." Cut in Sirius. His voice echoed through the room. It was strangely hallow, as his voice had been the first nights of returning from Azkaban.

Flashback –

Jack woke their first night at the new house to quiet moans. _No! no! Not Lily and James! Peter how could you? You tricked us all. Jack and Remus are all alone. I'm sorry Jack._

Sirius was having a nightmare. That night, after they had settled in, Jack took Sirius, and James took Harry, and Remus gave both families some space. Jack was the only one who could ever calm Sirius down enough and Harry needed James.

"Siri!" Jack said softly, shaking his shoulder. "Siri wake up, it's only a dream." He woke with a start and stared at her for a moment.

"I thought it was a dream." He said in a dead voice. It scared Jack. Sirius's voice was always filled with life and laughter. It had never died before. "I dreamed – you hated me. Merlin, it was awful. You killed yourself and Harry grew up not knowing – anything. And – so much turmoil happened. He didn't know the prophesy or any of it."

Jack cuddled closer to her lover. "I could never hate you. Not if you really had betrayed Lily and James. As for Harry not knowing, we'll tell him. When we think he's ready. We'll train him, both with knowledge and with magic. He'll know what he needs to know, before the end. He'll be prepared."

-- End Flashback

"What?" Albus said. His eye twinkled like mad. But his face told another tale. Albus was shocked. "Where?" Jack waved her wand and James appeared in the seat beside her. "Merlin…" was all Albus could manage.

Jack smiled. "James, you owe me fifty galleons!"

"What?" asked James, baffled.

"Second day of third year. I bet you that we could render Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in a century speechless."

"Come off it, that was years ago. I'm not paying you."

"As long as you acknowledge that I won." Remus and Sirius both grinned at Jack and James's usual banter. There never was a quiet moment with the two of them. They were always arguing over something, usually a bet or a prank of a distant memory.

Albus able to finally get over his shock, "James? Is that really you?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, Albus," James said quietly. "It's me."

"Ego and all" laughed Jack.

"Batteries not included." said Sirius. Everybody looked at him. "What?"

"How do you know about batteries?" asked Remus, after a long silence.

"Don explained megaphones to me once after one of his games." Albus gave him a blank look and Jack buried her head in her hands. When she resurfaced, it was evident that she had been laughing.

"So," Albus said, "what have you been up to all this time?"

Remus smirked. "Sirius, James, and I have all been maintaining jobs for the past few years, I held a part time job at a bookstore, Sirius took a job at a toy store, and James worked at a grocery store."

"Sirius taught me how to cook." Jack said, "and I was in charge of household maintenance. Besides that I gathered research on the American history of magic and went though several drafts of a book. I'm planning on publishing it at some point. James and I both taught the kids how to fly."

"She tracked Krum's progress in the Quiddich world." Interjected Sirius.

Jack shrugged. "I think that I have the right to keep tabs on my Godson, even if it is through Quddich Weekly. I've been thinking about going to one of his games tomorrow, make the big return entrance somewhere interesting. I certainly don't want to be spotted on the street. Reporters would be on top of that like nobody's business. At least there's a press restriction where he plays."

Albus nodded. "That would probably the best course of action, especially if I am remembering correctly, about you impatience with reporters. The only question is if Harry should go, get it all over with."

Jack shook her head. "I have business with Amelia. I couldn't deal with Harry, the press, and my business all at the same time."

Which was how Jack found herself robed in her favorite deep purple robe the next day, watching her godson flying high above the field. For breakfast that morning, her family gathered in Dumbledore's office, and he told her that he'd prefer that her family didn't roam the castle much until the word was out, to squash any rumors that could arise prematurely.

She was relatively confident that she wouldn't be recognized, but her hood was up anyway. She didn't want to be taking chances. Krum flew well, as well as his mother. He passed her quickly several times and she spotted her old snitch charm. Since it was only a pre-season game (where the second string, which Krum was on, played against the first string), Krum's team lost, but he didn't seem to unhappy about it.

After the game, fans were allowed unto the field to meet their idols. Most flocked to the first string, so Jack was unsurprised when she spotted Krum chatting with his mother quietly at the edge of the field. "You played well." She said. "I haven't seen flying like that in ten years."

Krum smiled at the compliment. "My muzzer taught me." He said proudly. "Ze played for England back en 'er day.

Amelia stepped in. "I played in the 1980 World Cup. That's probably where you remember me from."

"Maybe." Jack said, smiling, she stared at the snitch charm. "This might seem rude, but where'd you get that necklace?"

"My godmuzzer gave et to me, 'afore, she died." Krum said.

"It was Jack Potter's signature, back in the day," said Amelia, "she thought it would bring Vicktor good luck, just like it brought her good luck."

"That it did." Said Jack regarding Amelia.

Amelia stared at Jack's face. "It can't be."

"I'm sorry?"

"I-I don't remember catching your name."

"I didn't give it." Said Jack, smiling. She leaned into Amelia, until she could whisper into her ear. "_Jack Potter lives!_" she hissed.

Amelia gasped and pushed her away. "If this is a joke, it's a bad one. It was very hard to get over my friend's death."

Jack bent her head and removed her head, revealing her cropped, messy black hair. Her hazel eyes shone with tears as she looked at Amelia. "It isn't a joke, Lia." She said softly.

"Oh, bloody hell!" she cried gaily, embracing her old friend. Several people glanced over at the two friends, wondering what was going on. "Jay? Is that really you? But the letter – and your charm."

"All a ruse. I'm sorry Lia, but I decided to take Harry and disappear."

"_You_ took Harry? God, everyone thought it was Black who did it, but of course that was before he was proven innocent by the appearance." Her loud voice was drawing a crowd, who was beginning to recognize who Amelia Krum was talking with.

"Scuse me!" came a new voice. "I'm from the Bulgarian National." Jack's eyes rolled.

"Yes?" she asked in her hardest voice.

"Are you really Jack Potter?"

"Yes I am… or I was, a long time ago."

"Jack, what are you talking about?" asked Amelia.

"I got married," Jack said, as loudly as she could justify acting like she was having a normal conversation with her old friend. The crowd immediately began to hiss and whisper. "ten years ago."

"To who?" cried somebody in the crowd.

Jack shook her head and sighed. "How many people actually knew me, back in the day, or at least, knew something of my life." A couple dozen hands raised. Jack smiled warmly. "Who was I seeing back then? Who was I engaged to?"

A gasp rang out. "Jack, you aren't serious."

Jack smiled. "You walked into that one, Lia. You're very smart… I'm not my husband."

With that, she fastened her cloak onto herself, pulled her cloak over her face and drew out her wand. "I'll be in touch!" She rapped herself on the head and disappeared.

The crowd stood flabbergasted with Vicktor and Amelia and the reporter in the center. The reporter was writing furiously.

"So," asked Sirius when she made it home, "did we make the papers?"

Jack nodded, then smiled. "That was the best prank I've played on anyone in a very long time."

"Oh you're just pissed that you didn't get me on April 1st."

Jack shoved him playfully and looked at the view. "Home" was currently one of the unused towers that overlooked the lake. Jack could see the tree that so many afternoons had been spent under. Jack sighed as she and Sirius spooned on their porch. "I missed this place." She said. "All the memories that these halls carry so much happiness. We were so carefree and immature."

Sirius sighed and pulled her closer to him. "This is the turn of the tide. Things are going to get darker as the heros of the last war come out of the shadows."

Jack snorted, or began to. Sirius kissed her, stopping any noise coming from her mouth. Jack deepened the kiss, inserting her tongue in his mouth, both managed to rise and move to their bedroom without unlinking.

Sirius pulled at her shirt. "The kids?" she asked, taking it off.

"With Rem." Sirius answered, mirroring her move. "I asked for him to take care of the kids tonight."

"You dog!" Jack said, laughing and stepping out of her shoes. She pushed him onto their bed and Sirius groped for his wand, then shot an advanced locking spell on the door, so nobody could disturb them.

An hour later Sirius and Jack lay under the deep soft sheets of their bed. "And you wonder why we have so many kids," said Jack quietly.

"Oh hush, you're the one who wanted a big family."

"And what was that speech eight years ago, about how we are rebuilding the pureblood lines, not that they matter, but that we're single handedly repopulating wizard-kind."

"I thought we agreed the family of six was enough."

"Relax, I'm on birth control."

"What time is it?"

"Almost midnight, why?"

"Do you think James or Remus needs us for anything?"

"If they did, James can contact me."

"I thought you turned that thing off during…"

"Yeah, but it's possible to break through it in dire emergencies, I remember once I had to do it…" she shuddered at the memory, "It's like walking in on somebody, but you feel the emotion." Sirius shuddered at the thought too.

Both reveled in the silence for a long time, and slowly drifted to sleep.

The next morning, Sirius and Jack met her children, Remus, James, and Harry at the bottom of the stairs in front of the Great Hall. "Thanks for last night." Jack whispered to Remus, "we needed that before, the world goes to pieces over the news this morning."

"No problem." Answered Remus.

They were the first to enter the Great Hall, with the exception of Dumbledore. "Morning, Professor!" her children cried. They had all taken a great liking to the elderly headmaster. "Morning Albus," The adults said, nodding in recognition. In the summers, the four long Hogwarts house tables were never used, but instead smaller round tables littered the great floor. Albus indicated an invitation for the Marauders and their children to join him at his table. Jack and her clan sat down and began to eat the delicious Hogwarts food. James and Remus talked quietly to them about the Hogwarts house elves and kitchens, while

Halfway through Jack's kippers, the Great Hall's doors were flung wide. "Albus!" came Minerva McGonagall's voice. "You'd never guess what's in today's --" She stopped short as she was greeted by ten addition faces that she was not expecting.

"Minnie!" cried Sirius, leaping up. Jack came quickly after him. "How are you? It's smashing good to see you again!" McGonagall dropped the paper that she had been holding.

Jack grabbed his collar to keep him from leaping on their former professor. "Hello, Minerva. I would like to thank you for catching Pettigrew for us. You spared us a lot of work."

"You--" she squeaked, staring from Sirius to Jack. "Well, I suppose a congratulations is in order."

"Is there an article in there?" asked Jack, indicating the paper. Minerva handed it over.

**Jack Potter Lives!**

_A report by Bonnie Lockheart_

_Yesterday afternoon at the Bulgarian primary, Jacqueline Ophelia Potter, the former English Quiddich player who mysteriously vanished ten years ago, reappear just as mysteriously. Potter reveals that she took off to raise her only blood relative, the Boy-Who-Lived. She admitted yesterday to taking him nearly ten years ago, shortly after Black escaped from Azkaban prison. Many remember that Jack Potter was the only one who claimed Black's innocence after her brother and sister-in-law's deaths. She also added, with a secretive smile, that she is no longer a Potter, but a Black, revealing that she married her fiancé, Sirius Orion Black, after his infamous break out of Azkaban prison. _

_Ten years ago, before the Potter's tragic death and fall of the Dark Lord, Blakc was know to be the best Auror of our time, known for putting over twenty Death Eaters in Azkaban prison in one arrest. After six months of his life-long sentence, Black mysteriously disappeared, and it was feared by many that he kidnapped young Harry and killed him. But it seems that those suspicions were wrong._

_Neither Black was available for comment, but it is rumored that both parties are happy to be back in England and that the will be sending young Mr. Potter to Hogwarts in the coming year. The only questions that remain are those that ask where have the Blacks been and how have they remained hidden for so long? _

Jack's children, as well as James and Harry came over to read the article. "Hmmm." Said James, grinning. "Not up to her usual annoying reports. She missed a few key bits of information.

If possible, Minerva looked even more shocked. "J-j-j-j" she seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

"Minnie," Sirius said with a wide grin, "You remember James, right? Jack's formerly dead twin brother? And you remember Harry, of course." Sirius's grin only came out when he was teasing somebody, something that he liked to do with Minerva McGonagall to no end.

Minerva shook her head. "This is a crazy dream."

"Nope!" said Jack, smiling up a storm. "It's real. And I'm quite glad of that fact. I don't think I would have survived much longer if the founders didn't send James back.

"I assure you, Minerva," said Remus, in his ever-level tone, "This is James Potter."

"I never thought I'd see the day." Chuckled Albus. "Minerva, I do believe that I have several people to introduce, and reintroduce you to. Firstly, Jack and Sirius Black, who have had five children since leaving England, next, you remember Remus Lupin and James Potter, and finally, young Harry Potter, who will in fact be attending Hogwarts next year."

"Minirva," said Jack, rather happily, "these are our children, Tali, Alex, Jacob, Mel, and Meri. They're all Blacks. It's been a long time, and a lot has changed since I saw you last."

"But, you killed yourself ten years ago." McGonagall cried.

"I admit that there was a point that I was considering it, I didn't have anything to live with. Quiddich wasn't fun anymore, but I decided when Albus told me where Harry was that I'd raise him as my own, away from England's influence, give him the chance to be a normal boy." A crash made all the adults look over at the group of children. They had begun a food fight with the leftover food. "Which, as you can see, he's had the chance to be." The adults laughed at that until the kids began to unknowingly aim towards them. "Oi! What are the food fight rules?" The kids stopped and thought for a moment.

"Don't hit the grown-ups, unless they're participating, and clean up afterwards!" They chorused enthusiastically.

Jack nodded and they ran off again, laughing. Minerva shook her head in wonder. "How'd you do that?"

Jack grinned at Remus. "I learned long ago that six kids being raised by Marauders was going to create some wild situations, so when Tali was old enough to start playing with Harry, I began to set down basic rules to all the games and things. The rules were fairly basic and logical, so the kids never really complained too much." **Plus you ruled us with an iron fist. **Came James's thought wave.** I'll never forget the first time you put Sirius in the 'naughty corner' for hitting you with that flour. I don't think any of the kids have ever laughed so hard.**

"By the way, Albus, I've been meaning to speak to you about that offer that you gave me ten years ago. The teaching position?" **Can you really blame me, I had just showered and I was doused from head to toe.**

Albus smiled, "I'll tell Harold that you've finally have decided to let him retire. I'm sure many students would rather having a Quiddich legend as a History teacher instead of a dreary old ghost. I doubt that History of Magic will ever be the same without him."

"I'll start drawing up new lesson plans. And Albus, I won't be using of the old material, so you don't have to get me any information."

"So it's true." Came a silky voice, "Jack Potter has graced us with her presence once again." Jack turned slowly towards the voice. Severus Snape stood in the doorway. Hatred crossed James and Sirius's face, while Remus frowned. But Jack was the harshest reaction. She lunged at him, pinning him up against the door of the Great Hall. "You! You filth! What did I tell you the last time I saw you. Never speak to me again. Traitor!" Remus and James pulled Jack off Snape. They had never seen her so angry with anyone. Not even with Petunia.

"Jack," Albus said, evenly, "that was uncalled for."

McGonagall tisked, "brawling like a _muggle _in front of your children."

"You don't know what he did." Jack snarled. "Nobody does." She shoved her brother off of her and ran for the room of requirement. She wanted to be alone.

Flashback –

Jack was walking alone in the dark. It had been four months since her brother's death. She didn't know if she could keep going. Sirius was falsely accused, lying in an Azkaban cell, Harry was unreachable, Remus was currently at the Shrieking Shack, in the middle of a transformation, and James, her beloved brother, was dead.

She sat on a bench, watching the full moon, remembering happier times: the five of them running through the Forbidden Forest, presenting James with the Marauder's Map, flying for the first time in her life without the use of a charm or a broom. Suddenly, out of the darkness, a harsh voice called out. Jack found herself bound on the cold ground. Figures surrounded her. "Well, well, well," said the voice, icy and full of pleasure. Jack immediately recognized it as Bellatrix Lestrange. "What do we have here?"

"It's poor Jack Potter," cackled a second shrill voice, Narcissa Malfoy. "how ya doin' without your precious brother?" Fury coursed through her body. They were mocking her pain.

"No," said a voice much deeper, "she's mourning the loss of her boyfriend, Black."

Narcissa laughed. "How dense is that ministry? Black never was one of us! They'll never guess that it was little Peter Pettigrew who conned everyone, even Dumbledore."

Jack may not have been able to speak, but she knew how to let her voice be heard. She spat in the nearest face, the male's.

Fury etched his face underneath his mask. "You'll pay for that," came his silky voice. She knew that voice. "CRUCIO!!!"

The pain was like a thousand white knives piercing though every inch of her. Jack lost all sense of time. All she knew was the pain. She didn't know what was worse, the physical pain or the emotional pain that she had been going through for months and this was like adding salt to the wound. This was a man she had always been kind to, somebody who was always willing to give a second chance, much like her brother and his friends. Snape lifted the curse.

"Had enough Potter?" he sneered, spitting her name like it was mud. "Or do you need another taste of pain to learn your lesson?"

She whispered something.

"What was that, Potter?" Snape said, "you really should speak up."

"GO TO HELL!" she screamed as loud as she could.

The Death Eaters laughed for a bit, but then their faces hardened. "CRUCIO!" Came Snape's cry.

It was pain beyond pain, and her wand was feet away. But the anger finally overtook the pain she was in. Though the curse had not been lifted, Jack managed to stand. "I said, GO TO HELL, SNAPE!" Suddenly a bright light surrounded her. Her bonds were freed. She stood, white flames lapping her skin as her anger seeped through her very being. She raised a trembling arm. "and leave me be." She said quietly. Suddenly the magic that surrounded her was released, onto the Death Eaters. Each was burned with the pure magic that emanated from her body, finally, exhausted, she then disapparated to a place where nobody could ever follow her and wept.

End Flashback –

**Are you okay?** Came James's soft, quiet thought. **I've been trying to contact you for about thirty minutes.**

**Yeah, James, I'm fine.**

**What happened? I've never seen you go that ballistic before, except…** Jack knew what he was thinking of. The only other time she had gone that nuts was before her seventh year

**Some things are unforgivable, James, some things go past history and war.**

**What happened?**

**You'd kill him if you found out.**

**Snape?**

**Yeah.**

**What did he do?**

**He tortured me… about four months after you died…**she related the story to him, and felt the wave of anger as James heard the story.


	3. Welcome Home

(A/N): Thank you all for the reviews and adding me to the story alerts. I'm glad you think the story line is a good one. By the way, I'm looking for a Beta reader on this story… if anybody's interested… just send a PM.

It was a whole four hours later that Jack emerged from the Room of Requirement. She felt a strange urge to go hug her children and her husband. She needed to touch them, to feel this reality and remember that she had survived that horrible night. For some reason she was getting the feeling that things would have gone a lot worse if she had died.

She went to the tower her family was staying in. When she entered, James rushed up to her. "Where have you been? I was worried sick! I've been calling you every half hour, and you disappeared off the map."

Jack shrugged, "I needed some space. I'm allowed that much, aren't I? I wasn't anywhere dangerous, I just went somewhere to think."

Sirius and Remus came up to her and hugged her. Remus led her over to the couch in a very brotherly manner. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" He asked, gently but almost accusingly.

Jack shrugged. "I don't know, Moony. I could have died that night. I could have died and you would have been the only Marauder left in your eyes. Can you imagine? Sirius would still be in Azkaban, Peter would still be at the Weasley's, James would be dead, and Harry… god, Harry would be at the Dursley's still."

"But why didn't you tell us what Snape did?" argued Moony.

Jack shook her head, "What good would it have done. You would have just gone to Dumbledore as usual. And what could he have done?"

"Are you kidding? This is Dumbledore we're talking about." Argued her twin brother. "How could you ever not go to Dumbledore?"

Jack shrugged and glared angrily at her brother. "You'll never get it. You were dead by that point, how could you understand what I went through? Nobody believed me or listened to me. In all those months… all I could think about was how Siri was framed and innocent. It didn't take me long to piece it together. I mean, it was obvious to me. The night Lily and James died… when Siri said he was going to check on Peter … that night was horrible."

"Dumbledore still wants to ask you about that night and I suggest you take him up on his offer." Sirius said softly.

Jack didn't hesitate to shake her head. "Snape is useful to this war. He feeds us valuable information. Besides, if we know that he's a real Death Eater, we could use him to feed Voldemort false information."

"Jack," Sirius said angrily, "if you don't tell Albus what happened, I will. He belongs in Azkaban, not teaching children, corrupting their minds for Voldemort's uses."

"You think their parents haven't already done that!" snapped Jack. "Most of the ones who are dark have dark parents. It isn't like Voldemort lets in muggle-borns much, at least not without them proving that they are truly Dark."

"What about Peter?" Remus said quietly, frowning slightly.

Jack sighed and looked at him tiredly. They never mentioned Peter by his first name it was always Wormtail. They never thought about why he did it, or when he turned, they only talked about what they'd do to him the next time they met the rat. James and Sirius had said years ago that he didn't deserve his name after betraying them both and Jack heartily agreed. "What about him Remus?"

"Who corrupted Peter?" questioned Remus, "it had to be somebody who was a Death Eater and Snape was the one Death Eater we came into contact with the most. Remember the time that we were meeting Albus about the mission we were going on and we ran into Wormtail and Snape talking civilly in front of the library?"

Jack stared hard at her friends. "It's more complicated then you know."

"Than explain, now." James demanded in a hard voice.

Jack was silent for a very long time, then quietly began. "You know what people were saying about me, before you came back and we moved? Remus, do you remember what Rita Skeeter was writing about me?" Remus shook his head, soon followed by Sirius and James. "They were saying I was crazy, permanently confounded, that I had gone mad with the grief of my lover's betrayal and my twin brother's death, that I wasn't fit to be able to roam free anymore. There were those who said that I should be put in St. Mungo's, others said I was a – a Death Eater and I should be thrown in Azkaban… nobody once stopped to consider if it were possible for Sirius to be innocent, not even Dumbledore. Remus was my only friend, and nobody respected his word. There were still those who privately told Fudge that he was a dark creature and should be killed because he helped aid Voldemort. Even he didn't believe me when I told him that Sirius was innocent. I gave up trying to argue with him. You want to know what it's like to be alone? I've been there. It's hard, really hard.

"But now that Sirius has been proven innocent, I'm popular again, everyone wants to apologize for their thoughts and how they dismissed mine. I've had to raise my kids in hiding and get married in the smallest wedding known to man with only my two best friends as witnesses because nobody stopped to consider that I might be telling the truth. And Remus, I considered telling you, but then I thought, what good will it do? Your word isn't worth anything, and Dumbledore won't consider my word to be the truth, because I'm the crazy bitch that lost her whole fucking family!" She burst into tears and collapsed on the couch. She felt Sirius embrace her. She inhaled sharply. "Where are my kids?" she asked weakly. "I want to see my kids."

"They're with Minnie." Said Sirius.

Jack stared at him, "has she chastised you yet for calling her that?"

"I think she's still in shock, but Jack, you can't just shake this off. It's serious." Jack waited for the same old line that Sirius always told, but to her shock, it never came. She stared at him.

"Where is he?" she asked quietly.

"Dumbledore's office, waiting for you." She got up and quietly went out the door and within moments was in front of the Gargoyle. Clearly it had been told to let her in, since it leapt aside as she approached.

"Come in, Jack." Came Dumbledore's voice. It was hard and angry. As she entered she saw that Snape stood sneering in the corner and there was no twinkle in Dumbledore's eye. "Please explain why you acted the way you did this morning."

"Ask the _Death Eater_." She spat.

"I haven't the faintest idea what tale your mind has woven, Black." Snape sneered.

"Severus has already been cleared of those crimes, Jacqueline." Dumbledore said evenly, "He was spying for _us_."

"I don't have to listen to this Bullshit!" she cried. "You haven't trusted me since the day that James and Lily died! He tortured me that night, and if you can't believe that…" she pointed her wand at her temple and pulled out a white and black strand. She placed it on her desk, which she laid on Dumbledore's desk and stood there. Dumbledore rose slowly and went over to the pensive. He inserted the memory and prodded it. She quickly strode over to Snape.

"I'm gonna say it one more time, bastard, go…to… hell!"

Dumbledore came out of the memory looking grim. "Is this true Severus?

"…yes, Headmaster."

Jack left, with tears in her eyes, in search of her children. She pulled out an old parchment. "I solemnly swear, I am up to no good." A quick scan of the parchment showed that her entire clan was in the Great Hall, with the exception of James, who was coming towards her. She quickly wiped it clean just before James came into view.

"Jack!" he called. "Hey Jack!" He called. She waited for him to catch up. When he did, he scooped her up in his arms. They stayed like that for a long time, just crying and comforting each other. When they had finished, Jack led James up to the Northwest tower, her secret spot during her Hogwarts years.

"Why didn't you tell me?" was the first thing out of James's mouth.

Jack shrugged, "I'm the oldest. I'm supposed to protect you from all of the horrible things in the world. I didn't want you to worry, you had enough on your plate with Harry and Sirius, we had too much to worry about in those days, and then I realized that everything was easier if I didn't tell you."

"I wondered, I mean, especially when you went ballistic, you haven't gone that nuts since … since Mum and Dad died."

Jack sighed. "Well, Dumbledore knows now and I'm sure Snape will be getting what he deserves at long last.

"Azkaban?" Jack nodded. James's jaw tightened. "I can't say he doesn't deserve it, and I can't say that I feel bad for him. He's caused this family so much pain and suffering, but I'm sorry it had to end this way."

"Me too." Said Jack, quietly.

"I have an idea." James said after a pregnant silence. "I think that today you and I should go flying today. You haven't for so long and neither have I. Let's fly the way we used to."

Jack smiled at the memory. "What, like the last game before graduation?"

"Yes, just like that."

Jack waited for a second, thinking. "Gather everybody up and meet me on the Quiddich Pitch in a half hour." She smiled, Snape and the hard memories of war had gone out the window.

Before leaving, James looked at his sister, "are you sure you're okay?"

Jack nodded, "It's just hard to think about the difficult memories of my past."

Flashback –

It was the final Game of the century -- Gryffindor on Slytherin. The stakes were high but Gryffindor was confident. Jack Potter, their beloved seeker, was going to the England Quiddich Stadium for training directly after taking her N.E.W.T.s. Not only that, but she was going to be marked in the Hogwarts Quiddich Hall of Fame, along with all of all-time Hogwarts greats: Yates, Bagman, and Gilders to name a few.

Even a few Slytherins cheered as the Potter twins soared out of the stadium together and high above the crowds. They performed a series of aerials, then hugged each other good luck. "Be safe." Jack called after James.

**Always my dear, always.**

**Well sorry for asking you not to break yet another leg during this game.**

**You were the one who broke it!**

But before James could respond, the Quaffle was tossed high in the air and James's reflexes kicked in. Jack began her diligent search for the snitch. But the snitch knew Jack only too well after six years of being chased by the gifted seeker, it only came into Jack's peripheral vision twice and both times it instantly disappeared mear seconds after reappearing.

Hours later, Jack opened a channel to James. **Okay, I'm really bored and we're fifty points up. Want to do something fun?**

**You're supposed to be watching for the snitch Jack.**

**Come on, let's switch brooms. I'm wearing mine out.**

**Alright, alright, just like in practice.** Jack dived toward her twin brother, who passed the Quaffle off to Sean Jacobs, a fourth year and new chaser after the Prewitt brothers left the past year, and the two switched brooms midair. Jack closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the feeling of true free fall, before her legs automatically latched themselves to her brother's broom. She saw it and she dove in the same instant, never noticing that the entire crowd was going crazy. They had never seen such acrobatics before. The snitch flitted glinting near the Slytherin end. She noticed as she dove that it was too close to the ground for her to catch right side up.

She knew instantly what she had to do, but hesitated. It had never been attempted before in practice. She knew theory, but to fly upside down at fifty feet without practice would be dangerous. **Go for it. **Came the familiar voice in her head. So she did. She inverted her broom and flew towards the ground. The snitch tried to out distance her, but she managed to catch the cold metal in her hand.

End Flashback –

Jack smiled as she mounted her broom from the edge of the tower. She kicked off from the stone railing, letting the drafts float her up and down in a free fall. Most brooms wouldn't allow this, having charms built in to ensure the riders (relative) safety, but Jack ordered her broom special without the safety charm.

She only ever felt completely free on her broom, it was never on her own two feet that she felt completely content. She dived and weaved and did aerials for a half hour and then went off to meet her clan for a game of pick up Quiddich. Remus never cared for the sport, and so he and Melony (who was scared of heights) would hang out together in the stands. Merideth loved heights and Sirius often took her up on his broom. Merideth often pouted that she wasn't allowed on her mother's, but Jack put her foot down and that was the end of that argument.

Meanwhile –

In a small shanty house at the edge of a town lived two prankster twins, a part of a big family of wizards. Their most prized possession was a frayed piece of parchment; they just didn't know it yet. They assumed that it was simply a magical joke. They would say things to the parchment and it would wittily respond.

On this very day, one of the twins pointed his wand at the parchment and proclaimed, "I, Fred Weasley, command you to tell me who you are."

Very quickly, purple words appeared. This had never happened before. It had always been bottle-green.

"Oi, George!" Fred called to his twin, "Com'ere, somethin's changed with this bloody parchment. His twin rushed over and both read the forming words.

I will not tell me who I am,

Or what I used to be,

But if you really give a damn,

I'll show a part of me.

I am a solemn prankster true,

The only girl in a lot,

But if my comrades dyed me blue,

I'd prank 'em back an ne'er get caught.

I used to run the school, I swear,

The Hogwarts school I knew,

And so I created a lair,

To store my knowledge through:

Up the hall and in the classes,

Changing through the times,

The key to this Map passes,

It's hidden within the lines.

To you I send this sacred treasure,

The final days are mounting,

Before war begins and courage will measure,

The darkness is surmounting.

No good will come of this great war,

The death and all the carnage,

If you find the solemnest sore,

Just whisper: Mischief Managed

The twins stared at each other in amazement. "Should we try it?" asked George to Fred.

Fred gulped and once again and placed his wand on the parchment. "I solemn swear up to no good."

George snorted. "That isn't even a sentence, idiot, try this: I solemnly swear I am up to no good.

What they saw next nearly made both twins faint. "Hogwarts." George breathed.

They scanned over the map, until something caught their eye. There were people flying in the Quiddich Pitch. Three black dots flew around the page. They bore three names that Fred and George knew so well: Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs. The fourth was a name that sparked the twin's curiosity. The fourth dot seemed to fly much better than the others, the twins could even tell that from a piece of parchment. The fourth dot red, "The Marauder Queen."

"Fred! George!" called Charlie from the hallway. "Come see the Prophet, you'll never believe who turned up at a Bulgarian Quiddich Match yesterday."

George looked annoyed at the door, "then tell us, you git!"

"Jack Potter!"

Both twin's mouths dropped and George spat out, "mischief managed," before he followed his twin out the door to read the article. If the twins had stayed, they would have seen six new dots join the Marauders and their Queen. Five of the dots were labeled "Black" and the other was labeled, "Harry Potter."

--

"Please?" begged Harry, "just for a few moments? I won't try anything -- I'll hang on tight and everything.

"If he get's to do it, why can't I?" whined Tali, "he always gets to do everything first."

Jack sighed and rubbed her temples. "Anybody else?"

Melody and Remus both were preoccupied with a game of Exploding Snap, which was not a game that was very common in America. Mel let out a giggle when the cards exploded and toppled to the ground. Harry had his own broom a Comet 208, and he was prepared to join his father up in the air as soon as Jack gave her decision. Sirius and Meri were both flying on Sirius's broom. Sirius loved to fly, but he didn't often enjoy a ride on Jack's broom. Alex, however, raised his hand quietly. "I would like to please." He said.

"Alright, since Alex has clearly figured out how to please me, he will go first, then Tali will, because she does have a fair point that Harry usually goes first because he's the oldest, so Harry will go last." Harry shrugged, clearly fine with the decision and kicked off with his own broom underneath him.

Alex was overjoyed and quickly clambered onto the front end of Jack's broom. "You on and holding on tight?" She checked his group to make sure it was proper and then kicked off. She looped and whirled around in the air, nothing too fancy, but just enough to let her son get a nice feel for what it was like to ride her broom. She continued this for fifteen minutes, then gave Tali a turn. That trip also lasted fifteen minutes. Then Jack was free to go fly with Sirius and her daughter (Harry was too busy with his father to get a ride with Jack). She bobbed, swirled, and whirled around them doing loopdaloops for her daughters amusement. She shrieked and laughed with joy. It had been so long since Jack had ridden a broomstick that she had forgotten how good it made her feel. The memories of the war years ago and the challenge of the morning melted away with the setting sun. After ten long years of hiding and after all that her family had gone through, she was finally home. Two hours later they all burst into the Great Hall for dinner, windswept and laughing.

They sat down at a table and asked the house elves for the fixings for sandwiches. Minerva and Albus had left already and Snape was already on his way to trial, all based on the contents of Jack's memory. They were halfway through the meal when the Great Hall doors were flung open once again. James choked on his sandwich and ducked under the table when he saw who had arrived, and when Jack saw who it was, she wanted to do the same. Cornilus Fudge was striding towards her family's table.

"Come to apologize, Fudge?" she regarded him coolly, "you know as well as I do that I won't accept it."

Fudge's lip curled slightly. "Not to apologize, Black, but to arrest you."

Sirius, Remus, and her children, including Harry, rose and objected loudly. Jack rose a hand. "On what grounds?"

"Kidnapping Harry Potter." Said Fudge.

There was silence for a few seconds, before Sirius, Remus, and Jack burst out laughing. "You think," Jack laughed, "you think I was the one…who took Harry?"

Cornilus looked extremely confused. "Well if you didn't who did? We have a muggle-eyewitness, Petunia Dursley, who said that 'Potter and those abnormal friends showed up on my doorstep and took the freak.' If you were not the Potter she was referring to, what's your alibi?"

"Oh, I was there," Jack said coolly, "but I wasn't the one who took him."

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about? Who took Harry ten years ago?"

"His father did." Jack said, managing a straight face, despite the fact that James was tickling her leg from under the table, obviously anxious to get up and start cracking jokes at Fudge.

Fudge stared at her. "You've cracked you lid." He finally said.

Sirius stood up and stood behind his wife. "She's not, James Laertes Potter is alive and well."

"You're joking!"

"No I'm not, I'm Sirius." He said, grinning.

Fudge looked furiously at Harry. "James Potter is dead and has been for ten years! Harry was placed in the care of his aunt and uncle and it was requested that you leave him alone because of our suspicions that you had ties to Death Eaters."

"Actually," Harry spoke up with a smirk, "Aunt Jay and Uncle Padfoot were both legally allowed to take me from my muggle relatives house because in my parents will it appoints Aunt Jay and Uncle Padfoot as my Godparents."

Fudge looked shell shocked, and Jack allowed herself to finally smile. She shrugged at that, "well, there you have it. Whether or not you believe our tale, we legally are Harry's parents. And I do believe that Albus has not given you permission to be in this castle, which is required by law, so I suggest you leave."

Fudge had no choice but to leave, grumbling about the crazy Black clan. After the doors shut, James emerged again and burst out laughing. "How did such an oaf like that get to be minister. He didn't even think to look under the table."

Jack rounded the table and hugged Harry, kissing his forehead and ruffling his already messy hair. "You were amazing Harry. I don't think Fudge quite knew what to do, talking to the Great Harry Potter." The table burst out laughing and settled in to finish their meal.

Days later, Jack lay on her bed with Sirius writing something from across the way. Jack's history notes from seven years at Hogwarts plus multiple years of note-taking outside school were spread on the bed.

Her quill was posed over a blank bit of a page. "Sirius?" he grunted to tell her he was listening. "How do you think I should open the class? I want to do something to define the way I teach history, which is so different than Binn's style. I want to open their eyes to how great History can be."

Sirius thought for a moment, then turned and faced her. "What about that speech you always give the kids."

"The one where I tell them that you're an idiot?"

Sirius chuckled, "no, the one about defining history for yourself and perspective and all of that."

Jack frowned thoughtfully, "that could work." She nodded, "thank you," and she started scribbling.

"Why are you doing this, anyway?" asked Sirius.

"Dumbledore wants to go over what I want to do with the curriculum so that he can approve it within the next few days."

"Why not do it tomorrow?" Sirius asked, clearly bored. He jumped up from his seat and sat next to Jack, in the only clear spot on the bed.

"Don't you remember what tomorrow is?"

Sirius looked at her blankly for a few moments. "August twenty – ohhh!"

Jack nodded. "Amazing, you know, it's seems like they were still alive yesterday, bickering with James and I. They were really special to both of us."

"What are you going to do?"

"I figure that I'll go visit Molly, offer some condolences. I wasn't able to then, I was too broken up." A tear formed in her eye. "They were so young, and so brave."

Sirius rubbed her shoulder. "Coming back here is hard, huh."

Jack nodded. "There are so many death dates, so many memories of the dead that remain within these hallways. They're mostly happy memories, but it's sad to remember that they're dead, tortured by those that we fought so hard to defeat. We never succeeded, you realize, we never completely beat them."

"We will." Was all Sirius could say.

The next day, Jack rose, dressed, hugged her children and left Hogwarts for the first time since the press had exposed her. She dressed in a green cloak, once again putting the hood up, she then walked to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and apparated away. _With any luck,_ she thought, _the press will never even know that I left._ She walked to the edge of the town she had apparated to. There was a cemetery on the edge of town. She strode up to two twin gravestones. _Gideon and Fabian Prewitt_ the stones read, _brothers in life and in death_. Tears leaked from Jack's eyes.

"Hey guys," she said softly, "I know it's been a while since I spoke to you last, but I had to take care of something." Jack sniffed and looked at her feet. "Would you believe me if I told you that I have five kids. I know, right, who in their right mind would let me have kids. Of course, Sirius is their father and I can hardly say he's in his right mind…"

"Hey!" cried a voice with indignance. Jack smiled sadly and turned around. There stood her entire clan, including a glamored James Potter. Sirius lead forward Jacob and Alex, who looked curious, as usual.

Jack pulled them into a hug and led them to the gravestones. "Jacob, Alex, these were my bestest friends in the whole wide world. They were killed by a very evil man, so I decided that my next two little boys would be named after them."

Alex looked at the gravestone. "That's why my middle name is Fabian? And why Jacob's middle name is Gideon?"

Jack nodded. "I wanted you guys to have something to remember them by. They were great men, extremely brave. They took five Death Eaters down with them the day they died."

Tali came forward, "what about me, why is my middle name Marlene?"

"She was the keeper on the Gryffindore team. She married a man named Andrew McKinnon and was killed in the war. They never found her body, she just disappeared one day, her house was in shambles."

Meri touched her shoulder. "Lotsa people were killed in the war, weren't they mum?"

Jack nodded, "Lotsa people were killed in the war ten years ago and lotsa people are going to be killed in the war that's coming."

"That's why we havta be warriors, huh?"

Sirius sat next to Meri and nodded, "yep, you have to help your big brother Harry fight evil. But your mum is doing the most important thing you can do after a war."

Tali, Harry, and Alex, all old enough to understand what was happening, all looked at their Aunt. "Remember the dead." Harry whispered after a long silence.

James nodded and rubbed his son's back, "just like we remember your Mum, who died to save you, just like we remember dead cousins and dead friends, we remember those who died fighting for good."

Jack stared around at the faces, all of them were teared up and sad. "I remember when I met Giddy and Fabs. It was just after the sorting and James was being a prat as usual, pranking Slytherins left and right. I got fed up with him and was reading a book. Suddenly these two second years started talking to me about Quiddich and life at Hogwarts and all this stuff. So I started hanging out with them, and they were really funny, always making funny jokes to make me laugh."

"Remember when you guys out pranked us?" cut in Sirius.

James let out a belly laugh, "I don't think the Great Hall has ever been the same. There's still a big dent in the wall."

"I still say that the best prank is that when you magically glued Sirius and James together for a whole day for charming your hair blue."

"They were the ones who suggested that, you know. In sixth year when you pranked us on the train, they told me at the next 'opportune moment' I should stick you two together."

Stories started flying fast about the brave Gryffindor twins, until a voice from behind them made them stop. "I'm glad somebody remembers them in the way the would want to be remembered, with laughter. Everybody's heads turned towards the voice, all the adults (and Harry, who had just recently acquired his) reached subconsciously for their wands.

A plump red-haired woman with two bundles of flowers stood behind them. Jack leapt up, "Molly!" she cried.

"Jacqueline, how are you?"

"Good, I'm good. I had five kids since I last saw you, but I'm good."

"You finally look like you have a few good meals in you. Sirius, Remus, good to see you again." She said cheerfully. "Who's your friend?"

"He's a … family friend we met while we were away." Molly nodded. "Welcome to England.

"Thank ye kindly, marm." James said in his best Texas accent.

It must have worked, because Molly blushed furiously. "Thank you." She said finally, "for coming here, for remembering. Not a lot of people visit my brothers' graves. It reminds them too much of the war, of the pain and suffering." Molly planted the flowers carefully, as if her brothers would care how she laid them.

Jack shrugged, "life is pain and suffering." She said simply, "nobody likes it and we pretend it isn't true, that our children will be unscathed and will live through times that will be full of peace and happiness, but that will never be."

Molly looked at her oddly for a moment and smiled, nodding. "Gideon always said that about war… now I can see where he got it from. Would you like to come to my place for lunch? It is a bit crowded, but ,,,"

"Thank you for your offer, Molly, but we already have plans. Would you like to join us?"

Molly shook her head, "no, I don't want to ruin your fun. Go on and have a good time. Will we be seeing you on September 1st?"

Jack nodded, "you may not see me, but you'll certainly see my clan there. I may be preoccupied with a few things."

Molly nodded and disapparated. Jack turned to her brother, and his unglamored face, a perfect mirror of her own (though slightly manlier), grinned back at her. "Are we going where I think we're going?"

Jack gave him a blank look, "I don't know where do you think where going?"

"O'Shey's?" asked James.

"O'Shey's? Are you kidding me?" squealed Sirius, which, in Jack's opinion, was a very amusing thing. Sirius's squeal was something like a cross between a pig squeal and an otter bark.

"Merlin, we haven't been back there since…" Remus started, reminiscing,

"James's bachelor party." Grinned Jack, "I thought Grant would kick us out for sure. We were making such a racket. And he made sure we didn't apparated home drunk. It was that night that I realized why the Apparation Instructor was so adamant that we never do it. It's so easy to splinch. Either that or take of photo of us sloshed and sell it to the next tabloid. Merlin, my agent would have had a cow."

"I think your agent was a cow," chortled Sirius.

"Dora Greenwood was a fine agent, thank you very much, and you would do well to remember how many Quiddich Games she got you into. Getting all of you to the World Cup was no mean feat, and Top Box!"

"You guys saw the 1980 Quiddich Cup from the _Top Box_." Jacob had stopped dead in his tracks. He almost looked wounded. Jacob, the obsessed Quiddich follower, had always been disappointed that his mother, the famous Jack Potter, had been in hiding all these years. He also found it difficult to hide it from his friends, who were all muggles. Even 14 year old Don didn't pay much attention.

Sirius nodded grinning, "Scotland vs. England. Best bloody game I've seen in ages. Scotland played amazingly well." Jack hit him on the head. "Ow! What the 'ell was that for."

Jack hit him again. "Language!" she scolded in her sharpest tone. "Cor blimy," said James in a heavy English accent, "'ou sound like McGonagall. Scared the livin' daylights outa' me it did."

"Shut it, yes, we're going to O'Shey's. Grant still owns the place and if I don't visit him soon, he'll kill me. He's probably mad at me just for skippin' out nine years ago. 'Course, if things haven't changed, Grant doesn't read the papers, which means that he won't be knowing anything about us. He picks the gossip up from wizards who want a quiet firewhiskey without too many other wizards around if you know what I mean. Andy and Ted Tonks actually met there, you know."

Grant O'Shey was a quiet squib who ran an underground pub of the main run of wizarding pubs all over England, it wasn't as poplular, but known for it's covertness. Many muggles also went into the pub and had no knowledge of the wizarding world. Jack had bartended for Grant when she was just out of Hogwarts and wasn't a famous seeker at the time. Grant was kind enough to teach her the tricks of the trade. It was how she got her start, though James was uncomfortable about it. What James didn't know was that she was spying for Dumbledore. Some known Death Eaters went to O'Shey's, since they wouldn't be recognized in a muggle setting.

Once outside the pub, Jack lengthened her hair magically and streaked it purple, inserting a nose ring that she hardly ever wore anymore, unless she was in a crowded public place and needed a disguise. She still, like ten years ago, preferred her hair short and croppy, which often gave her the appearance of being James's double, unless they turned around and both faced the same person.

Grant was inside, washing mugs at an island sink, his back turned to her. "We're closed until eight."

Jack frowned. "I heard that Jack Potter used to work here." He didn't turn around.

"That." Grant said in a gruff, "is none of your business, young miss."

"Why is that?"

"You'd be wise to not raise the subject of the dead around their old friends."

"Whatever happened to rememberin' the dead, eh?" Jack snapped.

Grant finally looked toward her. "Do I know you?" He asked her quietly. He stared at her, hard

Jack gave her best glare. "I'd be washin' that rag o' yours, you got some business outside, some old friends you might say…"

"What's your name?"

Jack sarcastically looked over her own appearance in the mirror, "no, that isn't right." She waved her wand and went back to normal. Grant dropped the mug he was washing. Jack repaired it without batting a eye.

"We always did make a great team Grant." Utter silence followed, "Don't you get the papers Grant? It was in the Prophet." Suddenly, it was as if someone had unfrozen him. Grant hopped over the bar, scooped up Jack and twirled her around.

He gave a happy yell and then showered her with questions. "How? Where? Why the bloody hell did you let me believe that you were dead?"

Jack sheepishly looked down to the floor, "I had to protect my family." Was all she said, and it was true even though it was revealing nothing to Grant and was actually a cue for her clan to enter the pub

"What the --?" started Grant, but the door swung open and people came storming in like a herd of hippogriffs. Three kids were on a tall, dark-haired man's back. Three others were on the ground looking around the pub with interest, but Grant's attention went immediately to the man.

"Sirius Black?!"

"What?" Sirius said with his best hurt face, "no hug for me?" He smiled broadly.

"Good, god, where have you been man, the hunt of the century happened when you left. They came to my pub three times to look for you just because Jack used to work here."

"I've been rooming with my two school mates, and my lovely wife, here."

"T-two schoolmates?"

Two more men stumbled into the pub, looking disheveled. "Sorry." One said to Jack, kissing her cheek, "we almost got seen."

The man went over to one of the children, who looked incredibly like him, and picked him up

"Grant?" Jack said meekly, "Could we get some lunch? We have some explaining to do and it's a very long story."

--

An hour later, the large group was just settling down to sandwiches and glasses of iced pumkin juice. Grant could hardly believe that ancient twin magic had saved James Potter's life and "Who are all the rest of these munchkins, by the way?" Grant asked looking around, "besides the obvious." He looked

"Oh these are my kids." Jack said with a shrug. Grant stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "What!" she demanded.

"Whenever I've thought of you in the past ten years, I think of the night when you had to breakup that fight between the two chaps who wouldn't quit. I can't think of that woman actually settling down and having kids."

"Why? What'd she do?" asked Harry, intrigued.

"She sprayed them both with water and forced them both out, physically. She managed to yell at these two over the West Ham game going on."

Jack frowned. "We have a little WVN under the bar, I was watching Ireland squash Transylvania. The two guys were distracting me."

"WVN?" asked Tali, the silver-eyed girl with her long dark hair in a braid.

"Wizarding Visual Networking… it's like a television, they use it exclusively in pubs and things, we use it to watch Quddich matches during season mainly. I was glued to it in between serving drinks that season."

"Speaking of drinks," Grant said, "Anybody want anything?"

Jack leapt neatly over the bar and grabbed two bottles, "I'll do it, I've gotten rusty after so many years." She twirled both bottles with her hands, twirling them through the air.

"So, what'll it be Gentlemen?" She said smiling.


	4. Worries and Fears

Days later, Jack, Sirius, Remus and James (who was glamored) took the kids on their first trip to Diagon Ally. The kids tumbled out of the fireplace in the Lucky Cauldron and stood in awe. They had never seen so many witches and wizards in one place. They were used to having to conceal their magic, since they were hiding in L.A. Mel and Meri went immediately up on their parents shoulders, while Alex went on Remus's.

"First stop, Gringotts!" cried Jack.

Nobody noticed who they were. They were just another wizarding family buying the usual Hogwarts starter kit. Nobody second-guessed them, or even seemed to notice them. It was a busy Saturday and there wasn't time for double-takes or thinking about familiar faces.

Once they had gotten most of Harry's things and a couple books that Jack had been meaning to buy, there were only two things left, his robes and his wand. They went to Ollivander's first.

"Jack Potter!" Olivander said, eyes wide, "12 and a half inches, hair of a unicorn, beechwood, good for spell casting. Unlike your brother, who had one that was 12 inches and the heartstring of a dragon, good for Transfiguration."

"Hello Mr. Olivander, I'm glad to see that you haven't changed in all these years." Cried Sirius.

"Merlin's beard, Sirius Black. Mahogany, 13 inches, with the heartstring of a dragon… but they did snap it when you went off to Azkaban, didn't they?"

Sirius nodded, "they did, but I got a new one, custom made. Same ingredients, but just a little taller …"

Olivander moved on to Harry and fit him for a wand. All the adults looked nervously at Harry when it was revealed that the brother of his wand was Lord Voldemort's. Harry himself stared at the floor until Olivander stopped talking about it.

Madam Malkin's was next. Mel and Meri were tired, Alex was bored and Jacob was cranky, so with a nod, Sirius and Remus led the other children to the fireplace in the pub and back to Hogwarts. They were supposed to make the move to the Potter Mansion the next day.

Harry was ushered into the back and Jack and James sat out in front to wait. **Don't look now.** She thought, spotting a blonde man out of the corner of her eye.

**What?**

**Lucius Malfoy, about five feet away from us. He looks like he's waiting for someone.**

**You don't think….**

**That his kid is back there with Harry….** There was a shriek as a kid's voice yelled, "Harry Potter?" from the back. **Damn!** Jack leapt for the curtained area, calling "Harry, come on dear." Harry ducked behind her and Jack was already in protective mode. She threw an invisibility cloak over the two of them just as a crowd began to form.

"Harry Potter?" the crowd buzzed, "THE Harry Potter?"

Jack and Harry had to wait nearly an hour for the crowd to disperse, and then went back to Hogwarts.

August 30th was Jacob's birthday and he was turning seven. James, as Jacob's godfather, decided to spoil him a bit and get him a broomstick.

"Wow! A Comet 195, thank you Uncle Jay."

"Yes." Jack said mockingly, "thank you for giving a child with so much energy a toy that will cause his mother to have a coronary every time he flies to high." She than directed her gaze to Jacob. "You can only ride it with your father or one of your uncles with you."

"But Mom!" whined Jacob.

"The only alternative is that I put height restrictions on it. That's the rule until you are fourteen."

Remus gave him a book on Charms, Jacob's favorite subject to talk about after Quiddich. "Thanks, Uncle Moony! I really wanted this one."

Sirius gave Jacob a package of pranks and things from Zonko's as he did every year with every one of his children.

Jack was last, and simply handed over a picture. Jacob stared at it for a long time. "Is this what I think it is?" he whispered.

Jack nodded, "You might even be able to meet him next holiday, Amelia says she wants to meet my own kids."

James suddenly gave a cry. "Last one to the Quiddich Pitch is a flobberworm!" And the kids all raced off with James and Sirius, neck and neck in the lead.

Jack and Remus held back. Jack was working on the manuscript of her history book and Remus had been helping her with drafting. "So." Jack said, pulling out the notes and pages. "when are you going to ask her?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, come off it, I saw you buy the ring." Remus blushed. He had been seeing a girl from his work for over a year. She was a muggle, but her brother had gone to the Salem Institute for Witches and Wizards, so she knew about magic. One thing she didn't know, however, was the true identity of the entire clan. While in America, James posed as Sirius's brother, and Jack was Remus's sister.

"When are you going to ask her?"

"When I get back. Can you come back this weekend to explain to her who we really are?"

"Sure… does she know about your furry little problem?"

"Nope, which is why I need you guys there."

"Maybe you should tell her first. I mean, if anything is a turn-off to a marriage proposal is finding out the man asking you turns into a wolf every month."

"…good point."

After the rest of the clan trooped back, sweaty, the clan had a hearty meal laid out by the house elves, and everyone went to their rooms to relax. Jack and Sirius were relaxing on their balcony, watching the sunset in the distance. "School starts tomorrow." Jack said quietly.

Sirius looked at her oddly, "Really?" he said sarcastically, "I didn't know that." Jack hit him softly. "No really, I didn't know after the twenty times you have already told me."

"Was I wrong?" Jack asked him, turning into their bedroom. It was filled with Gryffindor colors.

"Doing what?" Sirius asked, following her.

"All of this: taking the Boy-Who-Lived from his aunts, bringing James back to life, moving us all to California for ten years?"

Sirius hugged Jack tightly, "why would you question that decision, you may have saved Harry's life. And he doesn't remember any of it, so there's no harm done. You saved my life too, you know. I don't think you should ever second guess what you did."

"Being back here, it makes you think of all the memories that were made. Especially seventh year when everything went to hell."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad. We got together, didn't we?"

"True." She was quiet for a long time. "Everybody wanted to be me, back then. I was the sister of the most eligible bachelor at Hogwarts, I was beautiful, recruited for England just out of school, but they never realized what horrible things I went through. Sometimes I …"

"you what?"

"I wish I could go back in time, tell them I loved them and hug them one last time."

"I know, so do I. They were the closest thing I ever had to a parent, and that got stripped away from me, from you, from all of us."

"I just pray that our kids aren't going to be let down like that. I hope that we can spare them of having to bury their parents at such a young age. I hope we can give them a childhood."

Sirius looked at her, "I don't think they ever had much of one. They had to deal with staying in secret and everything surrounding Harry and the Prophesy. Even Mel and Meri are a lot more mature than most girls their age."

She went down with Sirius to the tower's common room, where six rambunctious kids were running around, playing catch. Sirius immediately transformed into Padfoot and bounded after the ball that Harry had thrown to Alex. Remus was playing referee and James was watching by the fire. Jack sat down next to her twin and leaned into him.

**Knut for your thoughts?**

**Just thinking about everything that's happened to us. How about you?**

**I'm thinking about how proud Lily would be of Harry.**

**Very. Just like we all are so proud of him. He's bearing the burden of being the Chosen One well. **

**You trained him well, we both did. **They watched as Harry tackled Sirius in dog form and stole the ball from him. **It's a bloody miracle that he's semi-normal.**

**Amen, brother, amen. **Remus, looking tired, sat down.

"So," Jack asked, shifting her weight to face her friend and not the mess of children in the center of the room. "Where are you two going tomorrow?" Since the next day was the full moon, Sirius had to take care of the remaining kids, Jack was tied up with the feast, and James and Remus were going to an unpopulated area for Remus's transformation."

James shivered and looked out at the rain that had started several hours ago. "Someplace sunny and warm. God I miss L.A., great shopping."

Remus laughed weakly. "Only you would say that James." Sirius barked loudly, catching the rubber ball that Harry had thrown. "and Padfoot concurs."

"Well, I have train duty tomorrow, so I'm going back to London with all of you."

**Please tell me you're going to be glamored.**

**Duh, or else I'd be hoarded by kids wanting my autograph. I'll use my usual one – glasses, highlights, the whole bit. **The ball hit James in the head and Jack and Remus burst out laughing. "You should see your ugly face." Jack said.

"I do, I'm looking right at it." Retorted James. The group laughed. A couple pillows were thrown across the room. And Remus grew quiet.

"I think I want to go see Peter."

Sirius snorted, "Why would you ever want to do that?" To Sirius, Peter was dead and had been so for a long time. James was also one who would have rather ignored his existence.

Jack thought for a second. Peter was as good as dead to her, but she wanted Peter to see that what he had done hadn't truly affected any of them. His plans had failed, Harry was alive and already well into his training in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry already knew some simple spells, as well as hand-to-hand, self-defense, and sword fighting. He would be ready for the day that Voldemort returned, and so would his family.

"Jack?" asked James, "what do you think?"

"I think – I think it isn't such a bad idea." Sirius looked at her like he didn't believe what he was hearing. "I mean, Peter's pretty much dead to all of us, but I think it might give us… oh, I don't know, closure, I guess?"

"There's no closer about it. Peter's dead for what he did. The next time I see him, I'll curse him and Snape both." Jack said, fading in to silence

"Remember when we all met?" asked Remus after a long time. The kids, having picked up on the seriousness of the conversation had moved into another room. They knew when their parents began to talk about the past it was time to get out of the room.

Sirius grunted in recognition, James nodded, and tears filled Jack's eyes. "I remember --"

Flashback –

Eleven-year-old Jacqueline Potter was bouncing in her seat. She was finally going off to Hogwarts. Her father had told her bedtime stories about the school since before she could remember and she was finally going. She was going to be a star Quiddich player, just like her twin brother.

**You ready? **She thought.

**Oh yeah… after us, Hogwarts will never be the same again. ** Her prankster brother grinned broadly to her.

**Just as long as you remember that mass pranks are my speciality.**

**Yes dear sister, that is something I will be using to my advantage this year.**

Jack and her brother grinned wickedly at each other. Their mother, unfortunately, noticed. "You too, if I get so much as one letter home telling of you're shenanigans, I will come up to that school and drag you both out of it.

**So we have to do all of that… without getting caught.**

**We'll need accomplices, at least to give us alibis.**

**Great idea… we can corrupt their minds!**

**Muahahahaha! James, we're brilliant!**

They got to the station and went through the arch, saying goodbye to their parents. They helped each other lug their luggage into a compartment and then sat down and set to their usual tasks. James pulled out an old copy of Quiddich Weekly, while Jack pulled out a history book on the war with Grindiwald. She loved history and always had. As soon as she could read, she was pouring through the Potter's old library books, reading about wars and times of invention. She longed to study more about the people in the books. What they did and why, who they were, and, most especially, what happened to them.

She twirled her long, black, extremely messy hair with her index finger. It caught in a tangle. "Oh for the love of Merlin!" she cried. She reached into her trunk and pulled out a pair of scissors. "I've been wanting to do this for ages."

"No! Jack!" cried James, "Mum will kill you!" The compartment door slid open and a black-haired kid stood stunned in the entrance.

"Am I, uh, interrupting something?" the kid asked.

"Nope." Jack said shortly. "Come on in, I'm just cutting my hair."

The kid dragged in a trunk, which James helped to lift to the overhead rack. "Why are you cutting your hair?" asked the kid.

"I've been cursed with the horrible Potter hair. I'm Jack Potter, by the way, and this is my twin brother, James." She sat on the floor and searched through her trunk again.

"I'm Sirius Black."

James gave a small squeak. "Know what house you'll be in?" he asked tensely. Jack seemed unphased. Of course, Sirius couldn't tell because her entire head, both her arms and half her torso was buried in her trunk. She pulled out a small mirror and looked satisfied.

"As long as isn't Slytherin, I don't care. In fact, I kind of hope it's Gryffindor, would piss my parents off."

Jack grinned. "Both of us are gonna be in Gryffindor… that's definite enough. Our entire family is filled with blood traitors and Aurors." She raised the scissors to her long hair.

"Jack, don't! Mum'll kill you. She loves your hair."

Jack shrugged. "It's my hair… I can do what I want with it. I like it short." She snipped a lock off, so close it was shorter than James's, which was messy and cut just above his earline.

"So, how'd you get the name Jack?" Sirius asked as she continued to cut.

"My full name is Jacqueline, no thanks to my mother, but growing up with James by my side… I became very boyish. So I shortened it."

"So you're a tomboy."

Jack snorted. "Bloody hell, no. I'm just who I am… nothing else. I like Quiddich and pranking and hanging out with friends, like most guys I know… you could say that I'm very in touch with my masculine side. I can't cook and have no desire to, I hate any form of cleaning… my room's worse than James's, and I sneak out at night to play more Quiddich in the backyard. My manners are atrocious according to my mother and I have a tendency to swear like a sailor." She was about halfway done with her hair and Sirius had to admit that it looked a lot better short.

James and Sirius and Jack started talking about Quiddich as Jack finished up her hair and after she was satisfied, she put the scissors and mirror away and sat back down in a seat. Sirius noticed that she even sat like a guy would, legs wide spread and torso slightly stooped.

"Back off, mate!" came a voice. Jack looked out of the compartment and looked down the aisle. Two burly guys stood against a slender brunette with soft blue eyes and another boy with water eyes and blonde hair.

"Problem, gentlemen?" asked Jack, in her low alto rumble.

"Oi!" cried one of the burly guys, "we don't need random blokes stepping in what isn't their business."

Jack smiled coolly and walked towards the foursome. "Maybe I should make it my business." The boy's mouths' dropped

"Scram!" she said, and the burly guys scrambled off.

"I'm Jack," she said, sticking out her hand.

"Remus," said the brunette.

"Peter," said the blonde. Neither took her hand.

"Come on then, I don't bite." She said with a laugh. Remus flinched and Peter laughed nervously. "Join me in our cabin… we have plenty of room."

-- End Flashback

Jack smiled. "The rest is history."

"Did your mum ever find out about the hair?"

Jack smiled, "Third year during the accident. Course, she was too worried about me to care about the hair."

"Didn't you miss a month of school?"

"Yep… James got grounded for three."

"Why?"

"Mum blamed him for my unruliness and my roughness out on the Quiddich Field."

"Merlin are the kids gonna love you. Do you realize you hold three awards in Hogwarts: A History."

Jack's brow furrowed, "three? I thought it was only two."

"Biggest Pranksters: The marauders, 1,239 pranks to date. Fastest caught snitch, 11 seconds, biggest Quiddich Accident."

"Speaking of accidents, I assume you heard?"

"About?"

"The new potions mistress is Jessica Donaly."

"Jess is returning to Hogwarts too? I haven't seen her in years."

Jack hit him, hard, "why do you think that is?"

"I mean, I haven't seen her since Graduation. What in the name of Merlin has she been doing."

"According to Dumbledore, Potion Research at St. Mungo's. She is happy to come, though, especially when she heard about us."

"It was probably me, she always did fancy me." Said Sirius with twinkling eyes.

Jack hit him with a stray pillow. "Prat." She growled

--

The next day, Jack got on the Hogwarts earlier than most of the students. She picked a compartment towards the head of the train, with her long black hair streaked with purple and blue. She wore glasses, and though her eyes were shut, she wasn't sleeping. She was actually talking to her twin brother.

James was talking her through what was going on with her family.

**We're entering the platform…aw bloody hell!**

**What?**

**Reporters… why does it have to be reporters? Why can't we be mobbed by snakes or spiders? I mean those I can handle, but reporters! **James sent a mental shiver to Jack.

**Stop being such a baby… you must be firm with them. Their like little kids who love to test their boundries.**

**Yes but 20 kids to three adults? How is that fair?**

**Do you need me to come out and whip some reporter arse?**

**Please and thank you.** Jack sighed and waved her wand, reconverting her hair and clearing the glasses off her face. She apparated from the compartment to just behind James, and the twenty reporters went nuts, flashes went off, several voices tried to top the others.

Jack rolled her eyes and raised her hand for silence. "Who here has ever interviewed me?" No reporters commented, but merely pushed the magical microphones closer. "I will say this once and only once this year. Neither my family nor I has any comment to make. We are still living our own private lives as we did ten years ago. Yes, my brother is alive and well, no I'm not explaining why… I've already told Minister Fudge everything and he chose not to believe me. As to where we've been, well, that's our little secret and nobody will ever find out. Thank you and don't bother us again… I don't like reporters and I usually don't have the patience for them." With that her family strode through the crowd and aboard the Hogwarts Express.

Harry's eyebrows raised high. "How'd you do that?" he asked, amazed.

She shrugged, "it's a gift."

Sirius snorted, "no, everyone just remembers that you sent a reporter to St. Mungo's because he wouldn't stop bugging you and asking for an interview. How many ribs were broken? Ten?"

"Oh stuff it!"

"At least I don't have to wear glamour anymore." James said giddily. "It got annoying to have to check it everytime I wanted to leave Hogwarts. The group laughed and parted ways, Sirius and Jack headed to the front while Harry and James went to settle Harry in. Remus was back at home (they had relocated to Jack's home in Wales) with the rest of the clan."

"I'll see you this weekend." Sirius said.

Jack sniffed. "Nine years."

"I'm sorry?"

"It's been nine years since I've slept in a bed alone. I've spent nine years by your side and now I'm off to Hogwarts again."

Sirius hugged her, "I know, love, I know."

I'll fire call you tonight and check up on the kids!" They kissed and a horn blared. It was time for Sirius to leave. "I love you."

"I love you too." And with that, he was gone.


	5. Distraught Dreams

Disclaimer: I own all the OC's – Especially Jack… and all the kidlets… everything else is copyrighted… sadly (or else I would own Sirius Black as well).

The train ride was uneventful for Jack, so she spent her time reading her books. She was almost done with her manuscript and almost excited about submitting it and getting it published. Remus said it was good, James thought it was interesting and Sirius couldn't put the section about Quiddich down.

She joined the other teachers at the Hogwarts table, sitting next to Jessica and Hagrid at the end of the table. The two chatted about old time for a while before McGonagall came forward with the sorting hat and a bunch of scared looking first-years. She smiled at her Godson, who was standing slightly worriedly next to a red head. _Ron, wasn't it_ thought Jack, recognizing the youngest male Weasley. The sorting soon began, like any other sorting, with its song.

Jack looked on with amusement as the small children stumbled forward. _And they are just children. They have no idea how much the next seven years are going to change them. Merlin, it changed me. The first year me was so innocent, so naïve about the world…I don't think I'd want to go back knowing what I know. I don't think I'd want to be in the position that Harry and my children are. Most parents would probably shelter their kids from the world… but we can't, because everything is real and hard out there. War will come, we know that, with Voldemort alive and Harry Potter returning to school, war will come._

**You think too loud.**

**Damn it, James, you scared me.**

**What's going on, which house is Harry in? **Jack turned her attention to the Sorting.

"Potter, Harry" McGonagall called out. People began to whisper.

"…heard he was raised by Jack and Sirius Black…"

"…kidnapped at the age of two…"

"…wonder what they did to him…"

The hat went over Harry's head and momentarily shouted, "Gryffindor!!" Jack wondered if there was any significance too it. After all, in the end it always was Gryffindor verses Slytherin…

**Well? Give me the damn news woman!**

**What's got your knickers in a twist? Merlin, quit worrying, he's in Slytherin…**

**WHAT?!?!**

**I told you all that prankster influence was bad on him.**

**We're…we're going to be okay… we still love Harry and that's what matters, but Merlin…**_**Slytherin???**_

**Oh… did I say Slytherin? I meant Gryffindor… Harry's in Gryffindor.**

**You two-timing prat!! Why'd you do that? I nearly had a heart attack, merlin, our family's been in Gryffindor for ten generations or more.**

**I got you!! BWAHAHAHAHA! I got you…. Okay now I have to go… the sorting's wrapping up.**

She cut him off with a single thought to find McGonagall had returned to her seat and Albus had stood up.

"Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts. As I'm sure you heard this summer, Professor Snape is now unavalible to teach Potions any longer." Many of the students clapped, cheered and laughed at that. They were free of Snivilus! "Yes, yes, so filling his post and that of the Head of Slytherin house is Professor Jessica Donaly.

The students clapped politely as Jess rose and waved greeting to everyone, winking at the Slytherin table. Jess was one of the Slytherins that everyone got along with. She was very sneaky and cunning, but also friendly and very kind. In fact, she was quite the opposite that Severus was.

"Also, I am glad to inform you that Professor Binns, our history of magic teacher, has at long last retired from his post." There was a gasp from the older students. They didn't think that Binns would ever be leaving the retched post. And then they started to think… who would be replacing him? What self-respecting witch or wizard would ever spend time on History of Magic?

"Replacing him is none other than Jacqueline Potter-Black." Jack spotted Harry grinning broadly as she rose and acknowledged the crowds. There was a very long pause, before the Hall exploded with applause.

Harry was talking to a red-head as he clapped. _Merlin, I hope that Harry finds good friends here… he's going to need it, until Tali gets here._ She thought about her nine year old daughter. _Is this really going to happen? Will he really have to fight Voldemort? I know my children want to help, insist on helping, but they may end up not doing anything. _

The announcements finished and the feast began. "So Jess," Jack began, "How have you been?"

Jess swallowed the roast chicken she was eating. "Good…I've led a quiet life so far, but I missed the wild ways of Hogwarts a lot."

Jack smirked. "Those days are going to be returning." She said with a large grin. "You can even quote me on that.

Jess's brow furrowed, "Why would you say that?"

"Think about how many kids with certain men right by my side." Jess's eyes widened.

"Right, you raised them with Sirius and Remus, the remaining Marauders."

Jack smiled, "you didn't see the commotion on the train, did you?"

"No, I flooed here from Wales."

"…Jess, I don't know how to tell you this, but … James is still alive." Jess's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?"

"No that's my husband." Jack said with a straight face. Jess scowled. She always hated the Sirius jokes the marauders always cracked. She went back to her roasted chicken while Jack smirked into her mashed potatos. It was good to be home at last.

The rest of the meal was quiet and Jack started up to her rooms. This proved difficult because Peeves was blocking her way at the top of the third stairwell towards the South Tower. He was simply floating, blowing raspberries at random intervals.

"Peeves! What did I tell you about pranking the students?" Jack said in a McGonagall-like tone.

Peeves cried with indignation, "Wasn't doing nothings, p'ffesor."

"I know." Jack said grinning, "I thought I told you to always be doing something around here." Peeves whirled around and literally dropped out of the air. But the moment he hit the floor he bounced back and floated, grinning, several feet before the landing. "Don't let me ever catch you not pranking or causing mayhem wherever you see fit. You may rest after curfew, but I'll tell the rest of the marauders if you don't."

"Yes, your highness, of course, your highness." Peeves said in almost total seriousness.

--

"Good morning class!" Jack called cheerily to her first class of the day, Gryffindor/Hufflepuff third years. "Welcome to History of Magic. I am your teacher, Professor Black. You may remember me as Jack Potter, the seeker who played for England in the 1980 World Cup, or you may have heard horror stories about my years at Hogwarts… they aren't true."

"Even the one where you magically snowed the Great Hall in so students couldn't get to their classes?" called out a kid sitting in the back row.

Jack looked at him and smiled. The ginger hair gave him away. "Mr. Weasley, it would be wise to know that I know your mother and therefore it would not be wise to cross me." She paused, "But yes, it is true that I was something of a … prankster back in my day. Most of my friends were pranksters, including your uncles." The class snickered.

"Now then," Jack continued, "onto the reason we are here. What…is… history?" There was silence. "Does anybody know?" Not a sound was heard, "can anybody guess?"

A single hand rose slowly. "Isn't it, like, a collection of facts and dates?" asked a mouse-haired girl that reminded Jack of Peter. She was unsure of her answer, Jack could tell.

"In a sense." Jack said, refusing to allow the memory of her former friend anger her. "But history isn't just about facts. Anybody else care to guess?"

A boy with blonde hair towards the front shot up his hand bravely. "Isn't history like the story of how magic began?"

Jack smiled -- they were getting somewhere. "Does it have to be magic? Don't muggles have their own histories?"

"Yes, but if this is history of magic, wouldn't we be concentrating on the history of witches and wizards?" A girl with long dark hair called out.

"Yes, but I am merely asking you all to define history for me."

"It's like a story." The girl said confidently.

So you're saying that there is only one history Miss…"

"Adams. And yes, that's what I am saying…"

"So is your history the same as my history. We share the same story with the same facts and dates? I wasn't aware that you were my twin."

"I'm not…" Miss Adams said with indignation, "but there's still one history, one overall perspective about the facts."

"Does everyone think that, or does anyone disagree?" Her question was met with utter silence.

"Oh, come off it, you can't all agree! Weasley, what do you think?" she asked sharply.

Both were hunched over a piece of parchment. "_Accio Parchment." _She cried and the parchment flew into her hands. She was shocked to discover what it was, and was taken aback that the bell rang just then.

"Two feet on the definition of history due by next class!" she called, "Mr. Weasley, you and your brother are not excused."

They paused guiltily at the entrance of the classroom and walked back to her.

She held up the parchment she had confiscated. "Where did you get this?" she asked sharply.

"We, uh, we…" George Weasley was speechless…they had been caught red handed.

"Why are you referred to as the Marauder Queen?" Fred cut in.

Jack paused and smiled. "There is much… about this school's past that most teachers do not want me to tell you, especially you because there was a group of pranksters in this school who were as talented as you, however they had the advantage of having five pranksters of their group. Though I was not a part of the group, I covered for them on many occasions, so they named me their queen."

Both twins were stunned. "You – you know the mauraders?"

Jack hid her face. "You could say that. Don't let me catch you with that map again, or else I won't be so lenient." The twins left almost silently.

The rest of Jack's day was an free afternoon (it was supposed to be the 7th year NEWT class, but nobody took it), followed by dinner and patrolling the hallways with Jessica until ten minutes to curfew. Dumbledore wanted to ensure that no mischief makers were going to bring the school any Beginning-of-Term surprises. She was shocked to find her nephew standing next to the entrance of her rooms.

"Harry? What are you doing here?" Jack said, getting closer, she now could see that a second person was there. She recognized him by his red hair and immediately teared up. He was the spitting image of Giddy and Fabs. She gasped.

"HE wouldn't stop asking about you, so I brought him here."

She knelt down to Harry's level, which wasn't that hard. _He may be taller than James and I one of these days._ "Harry." She said in the tone that all her children knew well, the one that said 'this situation is reminding me of the past', "could you come back tomorrow? After your defense class? We could talk then. Bring anybody you like, but right now I really need to be alone."

Harry nodded, though he looked slightly put off. She waved her hand in the Marauder sign of friendship and entered her chambers, the tears now slipping uncontrollably down her cheeks. Without glancing at who was in her rooms, she went to bed, sobbing until she had cried herself into a deep sleep.

But her dreams neither calmed her nor settled her mind. It was, at first, a normal nightmare, one she often dreamt, where she woke up to find Lily and James dead, Sirius still in prison, and Harry turned over to Voldemort himself. Her dream-self awoke in a cage and she saw that with no one to challenge him, to stand up to him, he had taken over the wizarding world. The Weasleys were dead, though Ginny had been kept alive for "breeding" purposes. And she was kept for the same reason, as where all rebel women and daughters who were pure-blooded.

Her dream changed, as if she had crossed dimensions and she saw Harry growing up at the Dursley's, down trodden and beaten by his older cousin. She saw Sirius still in Azkaban, wasting away with nobody to love him or trust him. She saw Remus standing over her grave, sobbing.

"Why did you do it, Jack, why did you kill yourself? Did it hurt? Should I follow? How did things get so screwed up? How could everything that was good in my life slip away so easily? You were my best friend…"

She saw Harry enter Hogwarts, alone and unsure of himself. Unaware of the legacy that he had been born into. She saw his life in fast forward, unable to make anything out clearly, but able to get the impression that Harry had lived a life without much of a family, without knowing that much about his parents. -- She saw the werewolf in Remus, nearly gaining total control over him without the Marauders to calm him. The werewolf was angry that his kin would not be returning. -- She saw Voldemort rising again, a dead Harry in Hagrid's arms,

She woke up screaming. A second later James and Sirius rushed into the room. She was bathed in sweat and wouldn't acknowledge them. James finally broke through her mental barriers (this takes a lot out of a wizard and hurts, so they only did this in extreme emergency) and caught a glimpse of something he didn't understand. He pulled out, looking horrified.

Several seconds later, Jack opened her eyes and stared at them. "Why are you here?" she asked rather weakly.

"Jack!" James said exasperatedly. "I could hear you screaming mentally. You were screaming so loud that I thought Voldemort was right here in this very room."

Why aren't you with the kids?" she asked Sirius, ignoring James.

"Remus is with them."

"But… it's the full moon…" she paled visibly.

James and Sirius exchanged a look. "Jay…" James said carefully, "it's morning. Remus is being cared for by Alex and Tali. Jacob is making breakfast, the safety charms are on, don't worry…"

Jack shakily stood up and put on her robes. She brushed the tears from her eyes and quietly entered her bathroom without another word.

Sirius rushed in after her, "Jay, what's wrong? What happened?"

Jack was silent for several moments. "It's not important." She finally said in a horse whisper.

Sirius touched her shoulder, praying that she would open up to him, yet knowing it would never happen. Jack had always been the type to close off everyone from the personal stuff. She would keep it inside of her until she shut down and turned to firewhiskey.

When Jack was 17, her and James' parents had been murdered by Death Eaters just before they started their final year of Hogwarts. The war had been escalating for some time and everybody was on edge. More people were dying every day. Some people even feared the dark wizards name, and called him You-Know-Who or He-who-must-not-be-named when discussing the war with their friends. Sirius had run away from his parents' house that summer and the Potters were more than willing to give him food and shelter for the summer. He and Jack had spent several nights over hot chocolate getting to know each other better, and soon found that he enjoyed her company better than any girl that had ever talked to him. He would ask her out more openly if he hadn't been so afraid about how his best friend James would react.

Flashback --

Jack had been running to grab something inside when she found their bodies in the living room, a hooded black figure standing over them. It had been terrifying to James and Sirius, who were waiting for her outside when they heard her blood-curdling scream. They both ran into the house to find Jack stunned on the floor and James' parents dead on the floor. James was rooted to the spot and Sirius rushed to Jack's body. He waved his wand and revived her and she sat up suddenly and looked around.

She spotted her parents and shook her head in denial. "No…no, it can't be" she said softly. "This can't be happening. Not now…"

James unfroze and turned away, unable to look at the scene much longer. Sirius led Jack after him and the three of them went into the kitchen and Sirius strode over to the fireplace to firecall Dumbledore, the only man he could think to call. James was pale, standing over by the sink, while Jack was shaking her head muttering things under his breath.

Dumbledore was thankfully in his office and answered the call, quickly calming down a frightened Sirius and then entered the Potter household. He was grieved that the two Potter parents had been killed and quickly notified the proper authorities before wisking the three teens to Hogwarts. James eventually began to answer Dumbledore's questions, though Jack would not respond to the headmaster's questions, her brother's thoughts, or Sirius's prodding and jokes.

After a long while, Jack seemed to come out of her stupor on her own, and burst into tears as Sirius offered a hug. She was completely stunned. She was close to her parents, closer than most, they were more like her friends than her parents, especially now that she and James were of age. She didn't know what she was going to do without them.

--

She had been to Hogwarts almost a month, and it wasn't getting any better. The hurt was still there. James and Sirius were dealing with it somewhat better, but she knew that there were nights when their own haunted dreams. She slowly started to get used to having no parents, no where to turn to when you needed help, no one to send letters to, or receive them, no one to go home to during holidays. More than anything she missed her mum.

End Flashback –

Jack found herself in the Hogwarts kitchens begging for a bit of toast. She was late and she didn't want to cause a scene by going into the Great Hall at this time. She had calmed down enough to magically clean herself up, but she was still realing from her dream. What did it mean? Was it some sign of what would have happened, a "What if?" or was it a figment of her imagination, her mind processing her worry about Harry fitting into Hogwarts.

He had grown up in America, knowing his family's history and adopting a semi-English accent, but he still was not raised around other kids his age, he had been in hiding for the majority of his life and he was far more withdrawn than either Jack or James or Sirius were at that age. His actions were probably closest to Remus's, who had arrived at Hogwarts afraid of what everyone would think of him and scared that people would judge him. It took years for the Marauders to get him to open up, though all of them had obstacles to overcome over the years. Jack and James had a hard time during their first year, because it had been just the two of them growing up, they were always together, always able to know what the other was thinking or feeling. Jack knew that Mari and Mel were going to have the same problem, though it was less of one because they had other siblings.

What was hardest for Jack now were all the memories that lay within that plaster and stone workings of her secondary childhood home. The creation of the Marauders, the first time James asked Lily out, the first time Lily and James had a civil conversation, the first time Jack met Gideon and Fabian, the first Quiddich game. Gideon and Fabian once again surfaced into her head and fresh tears cropped up. Fabian should be in her place, he was the one who saved her life.

A fresh memory began to resurface but she shook it off, knowing that she had to get to her first year class. She took off running, knowing that at some point she would have to face her past. The class was already assembled when she rushed in. "My apologies for my tardiness." She said. "I am your new History of Magic teacher, Professor Black. This year may be a little boring, I'm still required to teach you all about the Goblin wars and all of that boring stuff but I promise you that I will try to make this as painless as I can."


End file.
